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No more Monkeys’
Bad news for aficionados of cartoon monkey images: X has removed support for NFT profile photographs, which was formerly included in its X Premium bundle.
Originally released in 2022 as part of its paid “Twitter Blue” offering, NFT profile images allowed digital art lovers to flaunt their wildly pricey JPEGs while also linking back to information about the art via users’ crypto wallets.
Conceptually, this flowed into the desire to use NFTs as a form of visibility for artists while also supporting digital ownership. However, the NFT market has plummeted over the last year, in line with the overall crypto downturn, amid worries about market need and persistent regulatory concerns.
Financial Hardship on it’s way?
Essentially, cryptocurrency is increasingly being used for malicious purposes, which has resulted in many crypto enthusiasts learning the hard way why so many safeguards and regulatory processes have been incorporated into the modern financial system.
Yes, it would be beneficial to establish an alternative system that eliminates banking costs and controls. However, without them, crypto payments are vulnerable to manipulation and criminal activities, resulting in financial hardship for many.
Interestingly, there is a continuing drive for tighter regulation of cryptocurrency assets, which appears to contradict the system’s fundamental value proposition. Regardless, crypto is no longer the hip tech trend, and as a result, X is discontinuing NFT profile images as an option.
Hexagonal Profile PFP.
There is no word yet on whether X will also roll back all of the existing hexagonal profile PFP.
It’s a setback for digital art aficionados, but not surprising, given that Meta has previously pared back its support for NFT display
and other sites have shifted away from their own digital art initiatives.
This is not to suggest that digital assets have no value. There certainly is, as seen by in-game purchases in popular gaming worlds such as Fortnite and Minecraft. But NFT art isn’t it.
NFTs have increasingly been proved to be a flawed picture of the future that arrived too soon, but other forms of digital assets will play a larger role in the next stage.
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