Table of Contents
To store NFTs safely, keep them in a wallet where only you have access to the keys, not on an exchange or marketplace account - that way only you can move or sell your collection, from any device.
Key Takeaways
- An NFT is a record of ownership, not a picture: the priciest ones sold for tens of millions (Beeple’s work - $69M), but your wallet holds only the token, while the image is often stored separately.
- Each network has its legendary collections: CryptoPunks and Bored Ape on Ethereum, Mad Lads and DeGods on Solana, and on TON the @news username sold for around $2.4M - and they are all stored differently.
What Is an NFT?
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique tokens on a blockchain that prove ownership of a specific digital item, and unlike Bitcoin or a dollar, no two NFTs are equal: each has its own identifier in a smart contract. A token can stand for digital art, an in-game item, a Telegram gift, or a username. This article is about where these NFTs live and how to store them so you don’t lose them.
Where the NFT Image Actually Lives
When you own an NFT, the blockchain stores a record of your ownership of the token, while the image itself usually sits elsewhere - on IPFS or Arweave (decentralized storage), or, in weaker projects, on a single company’s server. Your wallet holds not the picture but the key that controls the token. If the server hosting the image goes down, the picture can disappear - even though the token is still yours. So owning an NFT means controlling the key to the token, and where the file lives is secondary.
Top 3 NFT Networks: Ethereum, Solana, and TON
Ethereum, Solana, and TON are the three networks with the biggest NFT culture and the largest sales, and each has its own token standard that determines the fees and the wallet you need.
| Network | NFT standard | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | ERC721, ERC1155 | ~$50-$200 per mint at high gas |
| Solana | Metaplex on SPL, compressed NFT | under $0.01 (cNFTs up to 1000x cheaper) |
| TON | TEP-62 | under $0.01 per transfer |
Ethereum NFTs: CryptoPunks, Bored Ape, and ERC721
Ethereum is the birthplace of the most famous collections: CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club, which has more than $3B in total sales (as of July 2026). Technically, NFTs here run on two standards: ERC721 for unique items and ERC1155 for collections with mixed tokens. The ERC721 standard was finalized in January 2018, and most NFT platforms follow it. The flip side of that popularity is gas: a transfer costs around $1 in calm times and more than $50 during popular drops.
Top-collection dominance by market cap: CryptoPunks and Bored Ape make up about half the market. Source: CoinGecko
Solana NFTs: Mad Lads, DeGods, and cNFTs
Solana is the second-largest NFT scene: over 40 million wallets hold at least one Metaplex NFT (as of July 2026), and the Mad Lads and DeGods collections have become its calling cards. Here NFTs are minted via the Metaplex standard on top of SPL (Solana Program Library) tokens, and compressed NFTs (cNFTs) cut minting costs by up to 1000x, so most operations cost well under $0.01.
TON NFTs: Telegram Gifts and TEP-62
NFTs on TON are Telegram-native items: gifts, usernames, and anonymous numbers under the TEP-62 standard. The demand is real: the @news username sold for 994,000 TON (~$2.4M), and Telegram gifts have racked up more than $36M in sales across 184,000+ wallets. Meanwhile transfers cost less than $0.01.
Record NFT Sales: CryptoPunks, Beeple, and TON Usernames
The most expensive NFTs have sold for tens of millions of dollars, and each network has its own legendary collections.
| NFT / collection | Network | Record sale |
|---|---|---|
| The Merge (Pak) | Ethereum | ~$91.8M (December 2021) |
| Everydays (Beeple) | Ethereum | $69M (March 2021, Christie’s) |
| CryptoPunk #5822 | Ethereum | 8,000 ETH (~$23.7M, February 2022) |
| @news username | TON | 994,000 TON (~$2.4M, November 2022) |
| DeGods | Solana | 7,033 SOL (~$221K, September 2022) |
Source: public market data and Fragment.
Where to Trade NFTs: Marketplaces by Network
No single marketplace covers every network, and the top three hold about 82% of volume (per CoinGecko, as of July 2026):
- Ethereum: OpenSea and Blur
- Solana: Magic Eden and Tensor
- TON: GetGems for collections and Fragment for usernames and numbers
The market cooled after the boom: from a peak of $17.2B a month in January 2022 (per DappRadar), volumes fell to roughly $5.5B for all of 2025. But one expensive habit remains - keeping NFTs on a marketplace account, handing control to a platform that can freeze them or be hacked. With WalletConnect you can trade without letting the NFT leave your own wallet.
NFT trade volume by network: the decline from summer 2025 to July 2026. Source: CryptoSlam
How to Store NFTs Securely in 4 Steps
Storing NFTs safely comes down to four steps and takes a few minutes.
- Choose a secure wallet
- Save your secret phrase
- Keep all networks in one wallet
- Check before you sign
Let’s walk through each step.
Step 1: Choose a Secure Wallet for Your NFTs
Pick a wallet where you can store, receive, and send NFTs, for example Gem Wallet - one of the best NFT wallets for this: it’s a self-custodial wallet with fully open-source code (CertiK audit April 2026), where the keys and access to your collections stay only with you - no sign-up, no KYC, no middleman between you and your NFTs.
Step 2: Save Your Secret Phrase Offline
Your secret phrase is the only key to every token in the wallet. Write it down on paper and keep it offline, not as a screenshot and not as a note in the cloud. Whoever learns the phrase controls your NFTs, and without a backup no one can restore access.
Step 3: Keep All Networks in One Wallet
Don’t set up a separate wallet for each network - pick one that supports all your NFTs at once. Gem Wallet brings collections from Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana, Polygon, and TON into a single app and keeps adding new networks. It separates verified collections from unverified ones, searches NFTs by name, and even lets you set a favorite token as your wallet avatar.
Step 4: Check Before You Sign
Don’t sign transactions blindly: scammers hide malicious approvals inside ones that look ordinary, so read what a signature does before you confirm it.
Install Gem Wallet and start safely growing your collection with your favorite NFTs today.
