Polygon, Arweave Jump Double Digits as Meta’s Instagram Announces New NFT Tools

By Zi Wang

It's been a big day for Arweave and Polygon.

News that Instagram will leverage the Polygon blockchain to let users mint and sell NFTs has sent blockchain’s MATIC soaring by 14.3% since yesterday, per CoinGecko. 

This is the social media platform’s latest Web3 integration amid intense competition with TikTok and Alphabet’s YouTube.

Decentralized data storage protocol Arweave’s AR token is also up a whopping 59.2% since yesterday, per CoinGecko, after Instagram announced it would use Arweave for the storage of its creators’ NFTs.

Long lambasted by creators for its lack of direct creator compensation, unlike YouTube and TikTok, Instagram now appears to be caving in, likely spurred by the seemingly overnight success of the latter.

“Blockchain has a role in this because it can enable entirely new business models for creators that give them more control over their work and audiences, and how they monetize,” tweeted Stephane Kasriel, Meta’s Head of Commerce and Fintech. 

“We believe Web3 tech, like blockchain, will positively enhance the economic model for creators by giving them the ability to create new types of digital assets to monetize,” he said.

Polygon enters the metaverse

Polygon’s blockchain has been recently used by Reddit for its highly successful Collectible Avatars NFTs, which have been one of the few bright spots in a tanking NFT market. 

Arweave’s blockchain, on the other hand, is known for providing decentralized storage space that is theoretically impossible to tamper with. Users purchase space by buying the AR token.

Meta’s move is a vote of confidence in blockchain technology even as the wider cryptocurrency market is in the doldrums, with the prices of top tokens Bitcoin and Ethereum stagnating around $20,000 and $1,500, respectively, for the past few months. 

Back in May, Meta announced it would let select creators display their NFTs on their Instagram and Facebook profiles. 

Creators can now display NFTs on the Ethereum, Polygon, and Flow blockchains, with support for Solana and Phantom wallets coming soon.

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