How to Protect Your NFTs

Nowadays, creators can revolutionize art with the use of NFTs. There is more use-case for NFTs like support for many types of digital and physical goods such as identity documents and concert tickets. Knowing how to protect your NFTs is important to ensure that you do not lose your digital assets.

How to Protect Your NFT

There is a lot of capital entering the crypto space as a result of the NFT buzz. The unsurprising reality of this is that there are opportunists, fraudsters, and scammers lurking in the corners to take advantage of loopholes.

Although the nature of NFTs won’t allow hackers to rip you off just by making a copy and claiming that it is theirs, there are still avenues for scams and thefts. As a result, you should do all you can to protect your assets. Here are some ways to protect your NFTs:

1.     Use cold storage

Using cold storage, an offline, external drive is one of the most secure ways to store your NFT. Cold storage will help keep your assets safe from scammers and hackers. When your digital goods are on these devices, no internet fraudster can access them unless they have access to the physical storage device and your password.

There are affordable, highly-reviewed wallets available if you want to buy a cold storage wallet. However, you should know that you have to sacrifice convenience for security when using a cold storage wallet. This is because you must connect and decrypt your cold wallet storage anytime you want to carry out a transaction on the blockchain - it can be time-consuming.

2.     Use a non-custodial wallet

You should not store your NFTs on a marketplace or exchange but on a non-custodial crypto wallet. Non-custodial wallets, also called hot storage are commonly protected by a 12–14-word seed phrase. This protection is in combination with passwords and touch identification.

The use of a non-custodial wallet is the most secure way to protect your assets in most scenarios. Nevertheless, they can still be hacked through various methods that may include malware, keylogging, and phishing scams. To minimize the risk of getting hacked, ensure the following:

·       Do not store seed phrases or passwords on your computer

·       Your word seed phrase should never be given out

·       Your password should be a complex combination of letters, symbols, and numbers

3.     Use a secure and reputable non-custodial platform

Most NFT platforms are non-custodial, allowing you to control your assets. However, for you to interact with assets, smart contracts must be authorized. The NFTs will be left vulnerable if these smart contracts have bugs.

Therefore, you must use a good marketplace. By checking public audits, you can tell if an NFT marketplace is good. You will also know if the smart contracts of a marketplace have any bugs by checking their public audits. However, you may not get adequate information using this method for newer platforms.

4.     Be cautious of deals that seem too good to be true

Fraudsters prey on naivety, misplaced hopelessness, and complacency. The crypto world can be unforgiving if you fall victim to any of those. Although you may believe that you cannot be tricked or hacked by a scammer, the truth is that you can fall victim to lures.

To best protect yourself from such mistakes and avoid NFT scams, ensure that you follow your instincts when something does not look or feel right. It is probably not true if something sounds too good to be true. So be cautious.

Conclusion

All types of digital creators are presented with huge upside potential by NFTs. However, it must be pointed out that the NFT space is also a breeding ground for fraudsters and scammers. Therefore, you must take appropriate steps in protecting your digital assets. It will ensure that you do not lose your investment.