With X, you can no longer use NFT profile images

Elon Musk’s X detailed the company’s ambitious plans for 2024 in a post on Tuesday. Among these plans are the introduction of peer-to-peer payments and further AI-powered capabilities. During this time, the business covertly disabled a function that premium members had access to. They can’t use an NFT anymore as their profile photo.

This function was first introduced in January 2022, when Twitter was still under its former leadership. Twitter Blue users were able to customize their profile images using NFTs created on Ethereum (ERC-721 or ERC-1155 tokens), which transformed into hexagons over time. Users may get further information on NFTs, such as a collection of the NFT, the contract address, TokenID, and the program that mints it, by clicking or tapping on their profile image.

All references to the NFT profile image functionality on the X Premium support website have been deleted.

You may flaunt the NFTs you possess in a hex-shaped profile image on your account if you’re a Premium member and build a customized profile. “Once you establish a temporary connection to your cryptocurrency wallet, you can set up an NFT as your profile picture. Your digital asset will then display in a unique hexagonal shape, indicating that you are the owner of that NFT,” stated the explanation of the feature on the site before (Internet Archive link).

Those who have an NFT set as their profile image still use hexagonal avatars. Whether X will also eliminate them in the future is unclear.

Removing the functionality is not shocking considering that other social networks have already ended their NFT tests. Instagram and Facebook began testing the display and publishing of NFTs in 2022. Meta, on the other hand, removed NFT support in March 2023.

Despite the sharp decline in value of once-popular tokens like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), the NFT market has recently shown signs of life, with transaction volumes surpassing $1.6 billion, according to NFT aggregator CryptoSlam.