In a Tuesday, January 9 update, Elon Musk detailed the grand vision for the X (formerly Twitter) social media company’s grand vision in 2024. The world’s richest man confirmed the company will unveil the peer-to-peer (p2p) payments besides the integration of additional AI-powered tools.
Amid the grand vision, Musk’s company quietly eliminated the feature supporting nonfungible token (NFT) profile pictures for paid subscribers. As such, the paid subscribers cannot set the NFT for their profile pictures.
X Eradicating Support Feature for NFTs
The feature supporting the NFT profile picture was unveiled in January 2022 before Musk acquired Musk’s Twitter Inc. A review of the feature reveals that Twitter Blue subscribers could set the Ethereum-minted NFTs, whether ERC-721 or ERC-1155, as profile pictures. Such would eventually show as hexagons.
The feature allowed users to tap on such profile pictures to learn more details regarding NFTs. It would offer detailed information regarding the contract address and NFT collection. Other details revealed included applications used in minting and the TokenID.
The changes imply that X eliminated all descriptions of the NFT profile picture feature previously available from the X Premium support page.
The description read in a previous statement that Premium subscribers can readily create a customized profile that displays the NFTs in a hex-shaped appearance on one’s Twitter account. It added that the temporary crypto wallet link allows one to set the NFT as one’s profile picture.
The feature facilitated the digital asset to be displayed in a unique hexagon shape, constantly identifying the individual as the NFT owner.
Social Media Networks Shutdown NFTs Experimentation
A glance at the profile pictures for individuals who previously had the NFT set still displays the hexagonal avatars. It is uncertain if the X will eventually remove such displays as well.
The elimination of the feature is unsurprising, considering that other social networks shut down similar NFT experiments. Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook and Instagram announced their experimentation in 2022 to display and post NFTs. Nonetheless, Meta terminated NFT support in March last year.
The move by social media networks to shut down support and experimentation of NFTs coincides with a period when the market signals recovery. The segment has yet to regain the high-priced items witnessed in Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) since the value has dipped from the peak.
NFT aggregator platform CryptoSlam shows recovery in the NFT market, with the monthly trade volumes exceeding the $1.6 billion mark. Sustained recovery may prompt reconsideration of NFTs’ support by social media networks.