The test was first spotted by developer Nima Owji, who shared the discovery on Twitter. He noted that a banner referencing the project was displayed on Reddit’s web application, appearing at the top of the main pages of the platform’s communities, but wasn’t shown publicly to its users. “You can now use digital collectibles as your Reddit avatar,” the banner advertised.
— Nima Owji (@nima_owji) January 21, 2022 On the official side of things, Reddit has confirmed with TechCrunch that it is indeed working on the new feature. “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,” Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt told the website. “It’s a small, internal test and no decisions have been made about expanding or rolling out the capability.” Prior to TechCrunch’s query, it was speculated that the new profile picture feature is an extension to the platform’s own CryptoSnoos NFTs which it launched back in June of last year. However, Reddit said that it won’t be limiting the feature to its first-party collection and will let users showcase their own NFTs, such as those from the Bored Ape Yacht Club and so on. So why have NFTs as profile pictures on social media or community-driven websites? For starters, it is still one of the few ways for you to publicly showcase your creations or purchases, which in turn will attract fellow enthusiasts or even potential buyers. Given its popularity, it probably won’t take long for other social media platforms to introduce something similar. (Source: Nima Owji / TechCrunch)
