Securing Your NFTs

Hardware wallets make it simple to store and access all of your crypto assets while maintaining security and peace of mind. Crypto collectibles are stored on the blockchain and have a public address connected with them. We’ll go through hardware wallets in more detail, including how to store them and why they should be secured.

 

Store Your NFTs Securely

Hardware wallets, like the Ledger Nano S, are flash drive-like devices that let you securely store fungible and non-fungible crypto currencies (You can get yours by clicking here). Ledger wallets now handle Cardano native tokens in addition to NFTs on Ethereum. You have complete control over your NFTs with a Ledger Nano wallet since only you — the person who has the private key and recovery phrase — can access them. It keeps your token off the internet, preventing any malicious actor from seeing your prized NFTs. Everyone these days is starry-eyed about art and collectibles in the form of non-fungible tokens, a.k.a. NFTs, including artists, celebrities, and art collectors. I mean, why shouldn’t they be! Beeple, an American digital artist, recently sold one of his NFTs for almost $69.3 million dollars, making it the third most valuable work of art ever sold by a living artist. The auction contributes to the larger picture of our rapidly digitized environment and the growing interest in digital art and collectibles. In the realm of NFTs, a few hundred thousand dollars has come to look like a modest grab. I’m not surprised that hackers are turning to NFTs in the same way that art fans are. So now is the time to figure out how to keep your NFTs safe.

 

Why Secure NFTs?

All burglars need is the correct data and a basic understanding of computers to steal as much money as they want in the age of the internet. As we move from physical to digital, we’re seeing this transformation in the art sector. Art heists or art theft, would no longer need to leave their comfortable couches. To steal an artwork, breaking glasses, climbing through ventilators, and dangling from a military tow strap linked to the waist are all but obsolete. All art thieves need today is the correct information, such as your wallet’s private key or an account’s password, and they’re good to go. Several customers recently claimed that their whole NFT collection had been stolen from the Nifty marketplace, while others claimed that their Nifty-linked credit card had been used to purchase additional NFTs. Nifty discovered that none of the affected accounts had two-factor authentication turned on. So what does that mean? It means you should turn on your two-factor authentication. 

 

Secure Your NFTs, It’s Your Responsibility

Most NFT exchanges now require you to have a software wallet, which you could use to sign into your account at the platform instantly. These software wallets are linked to the internet, which places your private keys at danger, however they make ordinary transactions on dApps and NFTs more convenient. They’re still more secure than using your credit cards to buy NFTs. One software wallet that we think you should checkout is the Trust Wallet. If you plan to buy any kind of Crypto online, you’re leaving it in the app you purchased through (such as Coinbase), and you don’t actually have it physically in your own wallet. Hardware wallets, on the opposite hand, offer the best degree of safety by disconnecting your private keys from the internet. So, which hardware wallet should you choose? That’s easy to answer – mix of both wallets so you have the ultimate security and ease of use. The Ledger Nano has a series of hardware wallets that help you link to third-party hot wallets that are trusted, such as MetaMask and MyEtherWallet. When you connect your Ledger Nano to MetaMask, the private key that controls your NFTs stays in your hardware wallet, safe in the secure element chip, while your hot wallet can read your balance and help you manage it.

The MetaMask wallet will send a request to your Nano wallet every time you want to perform an action, asking for your permission to approve it. The transaction only works if you approve or sign the request with your hardware wallet’s private key. No one can steal your NFTs as long as you have your Nano and protect your recovery phrase.

 

Like what you’re reading? You might like our other contents as well! Click here to read more.

 

Amy Chung, Oakville, ON, June 2021

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