Meta (previously known as Facebook) announced earlier this year that they’re going to allow users the ability to share their digital collectibles on social media. The cryptocurrency market did not have time to react as the crypto market was crashing hard. However, Meta announced this morning that they just rolled out this ability to US users. Is the Meta NFT sharing news a good thing?
Meta failed to enter the Crypto Space
#1 Libra Fail
When the crypto market started to boom, Meta decided to tap into this space. In fact, the company’s name was just Facebook and they wanted to be a market leader. That’s why Facebook first launched Libra as a way to transfer money. Even with modern technology, transactions across borders are expensive. Individuals pay hundreds of dollars to transfer money with traditional banking institutions, which are generally highly sluggish and expensive. But the way people move money has altered thanks to cryptocurrency. The team also thought that many individuals found it difficult to store money with a financial institution, particularly in distant areas without banks.
The project however never saw the light, and the project roadmap got stalled sue to regulatory problems.
#2 Diem Fail
In a bid to rebrand and retry to push its narrative, Facebook decided to switch Libra to Diem. Diem was another Facebook project that essentially entails “banking the unbanked.” Faster transactions, reduced fees, and banking for the unbanked are among the project’s many features that sound all too familiar and serve as reminders of why Libra was created.
As expected, Diem also never took off. Their last tweet is from February 2022 with 0 updates on their timeline.
#3 Meta rebrand
The world was shocked when Facebook rebranded to Meta. This happened right at the start of the Metaverse craze in the crypto community. Facebook needed a strong plan for its future. They showed very big dreams of a connected Metaverse, where users can basically interact with each other and with businesses.
Again, nothing translated yet into reality ever since their official announcement. Meta is still operating normally through its acquired businesses, and just pumping money into a failed R&D. This is clearly translated into their bottom line, as their price per share dropped by more than 60% in the past year.
Meta announced NFT Sharing LIVE in the US
After almost 5 months, Meta announced that they are rolling the NFT sharing to some creators in the US. This first stage rollout will allow those collectors to:
- Connect their wallets: Rainbow, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet
- Share their collectibles: A post will appear showcasing the digital art
- Automatic tagging: A dropdown that shows the holder and creator names and Instagram account if available
Meta getting into NFTs is BAD?
This news brought many controversies to the table. Meta is a centralized and regulated public company. This means that it must comply with regulators if they ever ask any details about its users. To top all that, Meta is known for being a big storage of data that gets sold. Once the company identifies your wallet, they’ll be able to track all the transactions that you do, collect data and possibly share it with third-parties and authorities.
The Crypto Community reacted Negatively
Many users on Twitter reacted to this news in a mostly negative way. In fact, most of those crypto enthusiasts love blockchain tech because of its decentralized nature. Why go back to “traditional centralized” entities that can sell your data, shut down, ban you without prior notice or collect and share you data?
Connect your crypto wallet to the biggest known data harvesting site. What could go wrong?