Facebook’s Novi Wallet Could Support NFTs
- During an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, David Marcus revealed the social media giant was looking to implement support for NFTs through its Novi wallet.
- Marcus further said that while the wallet was “ready to launch”, Facebook has postponed its release until the Diem project has received regulatory approval.
David Marcus, Head, Diem, Facebook, speaking at the Creating a Credible and Trusted Digital Currency session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 23 January. World Economic Forum/Faruk Pinjo
Social media giant Facebook is now considering adding support for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to its upcoming Novi cryptocurrency wallet, Bloomberg reported on 25 August.
According to the publication, Facebook is “definitely looking” into ways to implement NFT features into its Novi wallet, as it is in a “really good position to do so”. During an interview with Bloomberg, Facebook’s head of financial services, David Marcus, said that when you have a good product “like Novi will be”, you also need to think how to “help consumers support NFTs”. He stated:
“When you have a good crypto wallet like Novi will be, you also have to think about how to help consumers support NFTs. We’re definitely looking at the number of ways to get involved in the space because we think we’re in a really good position to do so.”
Marcus also revealed that while the Novi crypto wallet was now “ready to launch”, Facebook decided to postpone its release until the company has received regulatory approval to move forward with its Diem stablecoin project. The social media giant could, “as a last resort”, release its wallet without Diem, but Marcus expressed his opinion that both are necessary for Diem to become a success.
Facebook began work on its Diem project (previously known as Libra) back in 2019, but due to global regulatory pressure was forced to not only delay its launch, but also change its plans for the stablecoin. Originally, Diem was supposed to be a stablecoin backed by a basked of fiat currencies — such as the U.S. dollar, Euro, Yen, U.K. pound, and others — but will now be pegged only to the U.S. dollar, and be regulated by the U.S. government.
- The 2.9 billion active monthly users of Facebook are now able to post their digital collectibles and NFTs on their Facebook accounts.
- The feature was first available to a limited number of Instagram users, but was later expanded across 100 countries, with support for Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow blockchains.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers the F8 2018 Keynote speech. Anthony Quintano/Wikimedia Commons
- Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Instagram will be the first app under Meta’s control to start NFT tests, and that Facebook could soon see a similar functionality.
- Meta’s CEO also noted that the company was working on augmented reality NFTs, which will allow users to place their digital art into physical spaces.
- Previously known as Libra, Meta’s Diem project has finally given up the fight with regulators, which has existed since it was founded in 2019.
- Silvergate will be acquiring Diem’s intellectual property for $182 million, and then use it to launch a “next-generation global payment system”.