Meta Platforms Inc., formerly Facebook Inc., is reportedly jumping onto the nonfungible token bandwagon and will allow users of its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram to mint, sell and trade the digital assets.

According to the Financial Times, unnamed sources said that Meta is already working on features that will allow users to display NFTs on social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram. There is also a prototype in the works that will assist users in the minting, or creation, of the tokens.

NFTs are a type of virtual asset secured by peer-to-peer blockchain technology that represents ownership of digital items such as artwork, music, collectibles, videogame items and more. The technology has made it possible for digital items to be collectibles because once minted, an NFT can be traded between parties, and the transaction is recorded.

In 2021 the NFT market reached $41 billion in value, according to a new report from blockchain analytics company Chainalysis Inc. This value rivals the $100 million in digital collectible sales from 2020 tracked by DappRadar.

A large portion of the market surrounds digital art NFTs, including such collections as the CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club. The highest-selling CryptoPunk was CryptoPunk 7523, sold for $11.75 million. Another big example of how NFT digital art made headlines in 2021 was Beeple’s collage “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” which sold for $69 million at a Christie’s auction.

Many of these sales happen on NFT marketplaces, which FT reported that Meta is also working on for its users. Such marketplaces allow users to discover, buy, sell and trade NFTs and are fundamental to the economy that has been built up around digital assets.

OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, recently raised $300 million at a $13 billion valuation earlier this month and facilitated more than $10 billion in NFT sales and trading volume by November 2021. Crypto wallet and finance providers Blockchain.com and Coinbase have both signaled plans to open up their own NFT marketplaces as well.

During the company’s rebranding to Meta in October, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said that NFTs would be part of Meta’s shift into the “metaverse,” an interconnected network of virtual worlds, which would allow the purchase and trade of virtual items between users.

Many collectors of NFTs do so as part of a cultural and social experience, using their collections to showcase their personalities. Some NFTs are used as access to exclusive clubs, for example Bored Ape Yacht Club, which double as profile pictures and access to chat rooms. Other’s people display in the same way someone might lay out a movie poster or sticker collection.

It’s not uncommon for the owners of specific NFTs to publish them as their Twitter profile pictures in order to signal social stature. Users often also include a link to prove their ownership of the NFT as well in their profile because showcases do not yet exist on these platforms.

All that has been driving industry interest by social media platforms such as Twitter, which hinted at upcoming NFT verified profile pictures and an NFT showcase.

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