Everything You Need to Know About NFT Storage

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Contrary to popular belief, NFTs have existed for some time. Kevin McCoy minted the world's first NFT on Namecoin in 2014. It was given the name “Quantum,” and was sold in 2021 at Sotheby's for $1.47 million.

Almost a decade on, there remains widespread confusion about what exactly NFTs are, how they’re minted, and where they’re stored. Detailed below, you’ll find a brief overview of the fundamentals of NFTs, including how and why to store them properly.

What is an NFT?

NFT is an acronym for "Non-Fungible Token". An NFT is a blockchain-based digital asset like any standard crypto coin, but with one key difference. With standard cryptocurrencies, individual units of tokens (such as Bitcoin) can be exchanged for other tokens and you’ll have the exact same thing. The same as you would if you traded one dollar bill for another.. NFTs, by contrast, cannot be traded for other NFTs, given how every NFT minted is unique. 

All NFTs have exclusive properties and therefore, cannot be replaced by or exchanged for something similar. They are ‘non-fungible’, unlike all conventional currencies and crypto tokens that can be interchanged for one another with relative ease.

In short, the main features of NFTs are as follows:

• An NFT is a virtual asset that can represent any digital or real-world asset, such as music, real estate, videos, art, game characters, and so on.
• Every NFT is inherently unique, and, therefore cannot be swapped for another NFT, or in any way be forged or tampered with.
• The ownership of NFTs is recorded on the blockchains they are based upon, providing infallible evidence of who owns them and has the right to sell them. 

The fact that NFTs can be worth huge amounts of money emphasizes the importance of storing them with due care and attention. If you had a priceless masterpiece in your collection from Van Gogh, you wouldn’t toss it in a damp garage and hope for the best.

You'd consider all options available, and make sure your asset was taken care of – exactly as you should with any NFT.

How to Mint an NFT? 

The basics of minting an NFT are fairly straightforward, and the process is nearly free. 

Here’s a brief overview of how it works:‍

1. ‍Create a Crypto Wallet Account - You’ll need a cryptocurrency wallet to register on an NFT marketplace and create NFTs, so this is the first thing to take care of. A crypto wallet works in a similar way to any conventional online wallet, allowing you to monitor, access, and utilize your crypto assets for purchases, trades, investments, and so on. ‍
2. Open an Account on an NFT Marketplace - You’ll soon be able to mint NFTs on STORE but at the moment, two of the most popular NFT marketplaces that make it as easy as possible to mint NFTs are OpenSea and Rarible. Both of these are 100% free of charge to sign up with, and the whole process takes just a couple of minutes. Once you have linked your NFT marketplace account with your crypto wallet, you're good to go. ‍
3. Create and Upload Some Art - Your next job is to create some kind of art you'd like to be backed by an NFT Whatever it is you come up with, you'll need to make a digital copy of it, and upload it to your NFT marketplace account. At this point, you will need to add several key details, such as the name of the NFT, a detailed description, its listing price, and anything else prospective buyers need to know. ‍
4. Mint Your NFT - Both OpenSea and Rarible enable users to mint NFTs for free , as the NFT isn't transferred on-chain until the first purchase is made. This means you can get up and running with your NFT project without paying a penny, as you’ll hand over fees and commissions when you start selling them.‍
5. List Your NFT - With your NFT successfully minted, you now have a 100% unique virtual asset to sell online. You can then sit back and wait for someone to take an interest in it or create more NFTs to add to your portfolio.

What is NFT Storage?

Reports suggest that between the spring of 2021 and the following year, the total combined value of the NFT market increased from $13.7 million to $2.5 billion. Since then, its value has swelled to more than $5 billion, with further explosive growth set to follow indefinitely.

NFTs are becoming increasingly valuable and sought-after assets, fetching enormous prices never before paid for digital property. Sadly, the skyrocketing value of NFTs also plays directly into the hands of hackers, who prey on those who fail to store their digital assets securely. 

The issue is that while high-security cryptocurrency wallets have been around for some time, purpose-built NFT storage solutions have been fairly thin on the ground. An issue that developers have been turning their attention to as of late is creating new types of crypto wallets that ensure maximum safety and security for NFT owners.

How to Store an NFT?

Safety, security, and accessibility are the three cornerstones of effective NFT storage. In addition, ensuring that the storage solution you choose offers broad compatibility across different chains and with the NFT marketplace you use is essential. 

The most common ways to store NFTs are as follows:

• Software Wallets – A simplified, user-friendly solution for newcomers to NFTs. Storage is entrusted to a third-party provider online, transactions are encrypted for added security, and the service can be accessed from any location with any connected mobile device.
• Inter Planetary File System (IPFS) - Using IPFS, NFT creators can store the digital assets that make up their NFTs in a decentralized manner, meaning they are not reliant on a centralized server or database. This makes the NFTs more secure and resistant to censorship or data loss. This is how STORE NFT cloud storage works with integration with IPFS.‍
• Cold Storage Hardware Wallet - A hardware wallet typically looks like a USB stick and is designed to be connected to a computer or mobile device when needed to perform transactions. It is called "cold storage" because the private keys are kept offline, making them less vulnerable to hacking or theft than online or "hot" wallets.