Reddit is testing out NFT profile pics, but ‘no decisions have been made’

If you loved/hated Twitter's new NFT user profile pictures, get ready to feel excited/ambivalent about Reddit's offering.
If you loved/hated Twitter's new NFT user profile pictures, get ready to feel excited/ambivalent about Reddit's offering.

Reddit is testing out nonfungible token (NFT) profile pictures on its platform, with the news coming just a week or so after Twitter implemented a similar feature.

The popular social media platform had around 430 million monthly users in 2021 and is reportedly working on an NFT profile picture implementation that will enable users to set their profile picture to any NFT with an attached image.

In an Interview with TechCrunch on Thursday, Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt stated:

“We’re always exploring ways to provide value for users and communities on Reddit. At the moment we’re testing the ability to use NFTs as profile pictures (avatars) and verify ownership.”

“It’s a small, internal test and no decisions have been made about expanding or rolling out the capability,” he added.

Earlier in the week, an app developer posted a banner from Reddit promoting the feature, suggesting the tests are already well advanced.

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Twitter also introduced NFT profile pictures last week, available to Twitter Blue subscribers on iOS. However, NFTs have faced considerable backlash from gamers and Web2 developers recently. A day after the launch, a GitHub contributor shared a browser extension that automatically blocks Twitter accounts using NFT profile pictures.

Reddit has been experimenting with various initiatives around NFTs for some time. It even set up a dedicated page for NFT-related activities at nft.reddit.com.

In May 2020, the company introduced cryptocurrency tokens for its r/Cryptocurrency and r/Fortnite communities. Those tokens were called MOON and BRICK and are based on Ethereum standards.