NFTs

9 min

Introduction

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that represent unique resources. The resources can be physical (such as a Stradivarius violin) or digital (such as Beeple's record-breaking art). There are two major standards in use for NFTs today, ERC-721 and ERC-1155. Your Custody Infrastructure system supports both.

The Custody Infrastructure system features an MPC NFT gallery on the desktop. The gallery allows you to receive, view, and transfer NFTs.

Contact support to configure your NFT Gallery.

The NFT Gallery

Every NFT on the account is visible and managed from a single interface, the NFT Gallery, which is only accessible via the MPC desktop app. The Gallery must be configured before it can be used. Once configured, all NFT activity can be managed either from the Gallery or via the API.

Configuring the Gallery

Before the Custody Infrastructure system can work with any NFTs, you must add/ activate at least one NFT-ready EVM (see MPC Coin ManagementMPC Coin Management for details). The main addresses for both the MPC and Cold Vault will automatically be tracked for NFTs.

Custody Infrastructure supports NFT tracking on the following networks:

Ethereum

Polygon

Arbitrum

Optimism

Base

If you are using a segregated account, you can toggle NFT tracking on a per-wallet basis via the options dropdown in the Wallets control panel.

The Track NFT option

Select Track NFT to begin tracking NFTs in the wallet.

NFT Tracking

In this explanation, we will use the Ethereum blockchain as a working example.

NFTs are a form of smart contract. They coexist on the same blockchain as standard cryptocurrency. One ETH address (a wallet) can hold NFTs and a balance of ETH at the same time.

For this example, our wallet holds both a balance of ETH and a few NFTs.

No matter the Custody Infrastructure settings, if the ETH node is up, the system will recognize and display the wallet's ETH balance. NFTs, on the other hand, need to be tracked. If track NFT is turned on for your wallet, all unarchived NFTs owned by the wallet's address will show up in your Custody Infrastructure NFT Gallery. If track NFT is disabled, then none of that wallet's NFTs will show up.

So, why would you choose to disable tracking for any of your wallets?

Tracking NFTs in the wallet means running a third-party API. This uses certain resources tied to your organization's NFT API key. These resources are used in the act of CHECKING the wallet, whether anything is there or not. The resources are finite - if an API key is seen as spamming the server, it will be invalidated and a new key will need to be generated. Minimizing the number of wallets you track reduces the amount of API calls the system makes with your API key.

In addition to conserving resources, there is the issue of NFT airdrop attacks. Malicious parties may send your addresses unsolicited NFTs for a variety of nefarious purposes (see this MetaMask article for details). NFTs sent to your untracked addresses will not show up in the Gallery. This is one case where "out of sight, out of mind" leads to increased security for you.

Accessing the Gallery and Viewing NFTs

You can access the NFT Gallery via the NFT button on the sidebar. It is available at any time. The Gallery automatically updates once an hour. Click the Refresh button to manually update the Gallery with the latest information.

Click any NFT in the Gallery to view its details.

The NFT Gallery button

The NFT details view

From the detailed view you can see the following information:

The NFT name and collection (if any)

What wallet holds the NFT

What network the NFT is on

What standard the NFT uses

The specific contract address of the NFT

A thumbnail of the NFT image (click this for a closer look!)

The detailed view also allows for specific actions to be taken:

Copy the NFT Contract address as either alphanumeric characters or a scannable code

Transfer the NFT to an internal or external address (subject to standard MPC Transactions permissions and approval flows)

View more options

View the NFT on OpenSea

View the NFT on a blockchain explorer

Archive or Unarchive the NFT

Archiving an NFT hides the asset from the Gallery view. You still own it. Unarchiving the asset will restore it to the standard Gallery view. This tool allows you to hide unimportant NFT that may clutter your Gallery.

Transferring NFTs

With cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, we use the Custody Infrastructure system to perform Transactions. In a transaction, you send some fraction of your total amount of an asset (for instance, .25 ETH out of your total balance of 35 ETH). You decide where it is sent from, where it goes, and precisely how much of the asset you want to move.

NFTs are different. Whether we are dealing with a jpeg of an ape or a digital contract proving ownership of a guitar, NFTs are all or nothing. You transfer ownership of the entire instrument at once, not just a string or two.

Thus, we use the language of transfer when we discuss transacting NFTs. After a transfer, your source address has completely given up ownership of the NFT being moved, and the destination address now owns the entire thing.

NFTs can be transferred directly from the Gallery or from the detailed view. Wherever you are, click the Transfer button to activate the NFT transfer panel.

The Transfer Button

The Transfer panel is very similar to the Transactions panel. Transfers can be requested by any user governed by the appropriate Smart Contract Policies.

The NFT Transfer panel

The From, To, and Fee fields function exactly as you are used to. NFT information shows up in place of the amount. To transfer an NFT:

Click Transfer from the specific NFT Gallery pane or detailed view of the NFT to open the Transfer menu.

The Transfer Button

Fill out the To information. The Contacts dropdown allows you to select anyone in the account's address book, Wallets allows you to select any Custody Infrastructure account and wallet on the system, and New address allows you to send to a destination not yet registered in the system.

When selecting a To address, keep in mind that you can set ANYONE. Policy filtering is not applied until you submit your request. If you set a destination that policy forbids, the transaction request attempt will automatically return an error.

Configure the Fee information. The system checks the market and suggests two preset fees:

Market: This fee is in line with most other transactions in the market. It's unlikely to see your transaction picked up particularly quickly, but equally unlikely to see your transaction ignored.

ASAP: This fee is notably higher than the market rate. It is likely to be picked up and added to a block relatively quickly.

Alternatively, select Custom to specify a specific fee value of your choice.

Click Request to Send to send the transaction to the approval queue. It will be sent to the blockchain only after administrative approval.

NFT Policies

Any MPC user can view the NFT Gallery, update it, and explore NFT details.

NFTs themselves are a specific form of smart contract and are governed by your configured Smart Contract Policies. Only users allowed to perform smart contract transactions are permitted to transfer NFTs.