NFTs are one of the breakout collectibles of the last decade, and some of them are worth thousands of dollars or more. If you have a valuable NFT, you likely want to protect it the same way you would an expensive baseball or Pokémon card. There are numerous ways to keep your NFTs safe, and many of them depend primarily on the blockchain on which they’re minted.

Ethereum NFT security

Many of the most valuable NFTs are minted on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum wallets like MetaMask and Exodus are generally regarded as secure since they require a lengthy passphrase to access. Exodus is typically considered the easiest to use whereas MetaMask is regarded as a safer option. It’s essential that you back up your wallet phrase somewhere, as your funds and NFTs will be lost if you lose it. We recommend writing your wallet phrase down on a piece of paper and storing it in a waterproof safe.

If you want the highest level of security possible, consider a cold-storage hardware wallet. Wallets like Ledger allow you to store your NFTs offline, making them effectively unhackable. If you opt for a hardware wallet, pay close attention to the product description and ensure you buy a newer model that supports NFTs. Make sure to store your hardware wallet in a safe location, as your NFTs can be lost if the device is broken. Still, many hardware wallets can restore lost data if it is damaged, lost, or stolen.

Algorand NFT security

Algorand NFTs are rising in popularity, and there are numerous valuable digital assets minted on the Algorand blockchain. The two primary Algorand wallets are Pera and MyAlgo. Algorand NFTs are technically considered Algorand Standard Assets (ASAs), and both Pera and MyAlgo support them. Much like Ethereum wallets, you’ll need to store your passphrase in a safe location.

Ledger Nano X and Ledger Nano S hardware wallets also support ASAs, meaning you can safely store your Algorand NFTs on a hardware wallet if you wish.

Solana NFT security

Solana is quickly emerging as one of the most popular options for NFTs besides Ethereum. Solana NFTs are attractive to many due to Solana’s high price and low transaction costs. Phantom Wallet, Solflare, and Exodus are popular web-based Solana wallets that can be used to keep your NFTs secure.

Solana NFTs can also be stored on most Ledger hardware wallet models, allowing you to store your NFTs offline safely.

NFTs and IPFS

Many people believe that images, videos, and audio used for NFTs are stored directly on the blockchain, but this isn’t true. NFTs typically point to files stored on IPFS servers like Pinata. Although you can’t store your NFT directly on IPFS, it is worth understanding it so you don’t buy an NFT that points to a file that will eventually disappear.

If hypothetically, the NFT was minted using an IPFS service that isn’t trustworthy, the image may eventually disappear if the IPFS node shuts down. Additionally, if the creator or marketplace uses an HTTP URL as the canonical reference for an NFT, whatever is stored on that URL can eventually be changed. Storing the NFT’s data as an IPFS hash is generally regarded as more secure, but it isn’t bulletproof, as the IPFS node can still get disconnected from the network.

Although there is no way to guarantee your NFT’s data won’t eventually disappear, it is best to buy from projects that minted their NFTs on a service that uses Pinata or Infura. These IPFS services allow the marketplaces to “pin” the data, meaning the service views the data as important and won’t remove it if the node is near its limit.