In a surprising turn of events, tech mogul Elon Musk has expressed his disapproval of incorporating NFTs into X, labeling it as “annoying” and a misuse of valuable engineering resources.
The popular social media platform X has recently made the decision to remove all features and information related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as part of Elon Musk’s vision for the company by 2024. This change means that premium subscribers are no longer able to set NFTs as their profile photos.
Furthermore, the company’s support page has been completely cleared of any content regarding NFT profile photos. Initially introduced in January 2022 when the platform was still known as Twitter and operated by a board, users could use NFTs as their profile pictures, which appeared in a distinctive hexagonal format. Digital collectibles created under the ERC-721 or ERC-1155 token standards were accepted as profile photos, reflecting the prevalent options for NFTs on Ethereum’s blockchain.
Despite the initial excitement surrounding this feature, Elon Musk, who later acquired the company for a staggering $44 billion in October, openly criticized the decision to implement NFT profile photos. Musk argued that the company should prioritize resolving the growing issue of bots on the platform rather than introducing NFTs.
Subsequent to the removal of NFTs from X, users who had previously set hexagonal photos featuring blockchain collectibles were still visible. It remains uncertain whether the platform will completely eliminate these profile pictures. Nevertheless, this announcement has likely dampened expectations of NFT trading on X, a concept that was previously hinted at by developers following Musk’s acquisition.
X is not the only social media platform stepping back from NFTs. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, also made similar integrations in the same year but ultimately decided to discontinue support for NFTs in March 2023. The ever-evolving landscape of NFTs continues to be a topic of interest among tech leaders like Elon Musk, sparking discussions and debates within the industry.