purplETHought: Keeping your NFTs safe

I have seen a recent uptick in NFT scam attempts. To help you keep your assets secure, I compiled my top learnings from the last 3.5 years of safekeeping of my most valuable NFTs, including Yuga Labs, Artblocks, and more.

The basics

Let's start with the basics. A hardware wallet is a given, but more is needed to secure your assets. For example, if you sign malicious transactions, your assets can and will be stolen. For that reason, don't keep all your NFTs in one wallet.

Create multiple wallets (you can do that with @Ledger, @Trezor, and @gridplus) under the same seed phrase.

The safe way to sell

Then, if you have more items from one collection, say 5 BAYC, and you want to sell one, move the one you want to sell to a new address tied to your hardware wallet.

Only the ape you had listed will be affected if there is some exploit, which is still bad enough.

On free claims

The same goes for "free" claims. You can claim a worthless NFT with zero trading volume, but you only have to sign here to prove you own that BAYC to be eligible.

Think twice if it is worth it. It is the equivalent of handing someone your Richard Mille, who says they will return your watch in five mins with a complimentary pack of chewing gum. Is that worth taking the risk of not getting your watch back? No.

Avoiding shortcuts

Try to avoid shortcuts. You listed an item and don't want to sell it anymore? Cool, delist it. Don't try to be smarter than a system you do not understand fully; try to save a couple of bucks by sending it to another wallet and returning it.

As concerns NFTs that you don't want to sell, like your forever ape as well as valuable NFTs that you plan on holding for a long time, I suggest moving them to a separate fresh wallet that isn't used for anything else and has 0 approvals—an actual vault.

Multiple hardware wallets

If your collection grows, consider using more than one HW. Devices like the @gridplus are secure and allow you to use multiple HW wallets with different seed phrases on the same device. However, remember that the wallet is only as safe as your seed phrase.

A dedicated device for crypto

Please use a dedicated laptop to manage your crypto and only manage your crypto. Managing a 6-7 figure portfolio on the same device you watch porn on is not the safest thing.

Malicious approvals

Use tools like de.fi to check for harmful contracts you approved. The tool checks for malicious contracts that could lead to losing precious assets or NFTs and allows you to revoke them.

Most importantly: Try to learn as much as possible, and don't hesitate to ask questions to understand how smart contracts work. There is an incredible amount of knowledge and smart people who share their expertise for free daily. I am happy to tackle any questions you have in the comments.