Facebook ‘definitely looking’ at NFTs, says exec

As Facebook now finalizes the development of its proprietary cryptocurrency wallet, Novi, the social media giant could soon be supporting nonfungible tokens (NFT).

David Marcus, head of Facebook Financial and co-creator of Facebook-initiated cryptocurrency Diem, said Wednesday that the firm is “definitely looking” at possible ways to get involved in the NFT industry.

Facebook is considering multiple options to introduce NFT features, as it finds itself in a “really good position to do so,” Marcus said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “When you have a good crypto wallet like Novi will be, you also have to think about how to help consumers support NFTs,” he added.

Marcus said that the Novi crypto wallet is now “ready to launch” after a couple of years of development, but Facebook has decided to put its launch on hold until the firm gets approval from regulators to move forward with Diem. Facebook began work on the digital currency two years ago, initially under the name Libra. The social media giant would still consider launching Novi without Diem “as a last resort,” Marcus said, but he believes that both are necessary for Diem to be a success.

Related: Facebook’s David Marcus calls for 'fair shot' at crypto payments

Facebook released a white paper for its then-called Libra in June 2019, originally planning to peg the digital currency to several fiat currencies, including the United States dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen, the British pound and the Singapore dollar. Due to global regulatory pushback, the Libra Association has been struggling to launch its stablecoin ever since, eventually rebranding to the Diem Association and redesigning the digital currency to be pegged solely to the U.S. dollar and be regulated under the U.S. government.