What Makes a Good NFT Wallet? Here's 5 of the Best Ones

Whether on crypto forums, cryptocurrency guides or social media, what’s the first piece of advice all prospective crypto investors receive before purchasing their first cryptocurrency? Often, it’s to acquire a secure crypto wallet. 

This rule also applies to NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. NFTs are similar to cryptocurrencies in that they are tokenized digital assets which use the blockchain to certify their uniqueness. As with cryptocurrencies, holders of NFTs must have a digital wallet to keep their assets safe and to initiate transactions. 

What Are NFT Wallets?

An NFT wallet is a secure place to store non-fungible tokens. The wallet can take the form of either a physical device (e.g., a flash drive) or an app that’s accessed using a browser, computer or smartphone. It gives NFT holders complete control over their digital assets by providing them with a public wallet address and a private key for initiating transactions. 

The term “wallet” here is a figure of speech, referring to a secure place to store your proof of ownership of a digital currency — rather than a physical billfold for storing cash and credit cards. A crypto wallet is necessary for the storage of all types of crypto assets, including NFTs.

An NFT can represent anything from drawings, video clips, GIFs and music, to books and artwork — and even this article. The medium was a hot topic in 2021, with sales of NFTs reportedly reaching $25 billion during that year. With sales numbers like that, security naturally becomes a concern, especially for investors with NFT portfolios worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. 

The good news is that there are numerous wallet options available for NFT holders. On a foundational level, NFTs are quite similar to cryptocurrencies in that they’re both blockchain-based assets — which means that many wallet options for cryptocurrencies also support NFTs. 

Bitcoin and iPhone 12. Image source: Unsplash

Hot and Cold Crypto Wallets

Crypto wallets generally come in two flavors: hot wallets and cold wallets. Hot wallets refer to web-based, mobile and desktop wallets that are typically provided by crypto exchanges and marketplaces as a simple and convenient option for storing crypto. They’re called “hot” because they’re constantly connected to the internet, and are thus vulnerable to online attacks. 

Cold wallets refer to offline storage such as hardware wallets, paper wallets or air-gapped computers. These wallets are “cold” because they’re completely offline, and are therefore immune to online hacking. Stealing from a cold wallet would require physical access to the wallet — and even then, the thief would need to have access to the victim’s private keys to access its contents. 

Cold wallets are considered the gold standard for secure storage, and are recommended for long-term storage as well. However, they’re less convenient than hot wallets because you need to plug in your cold wallet to a computer before you can access your NFTs and make transactions. 

The market for crypto wallets is robust, so NFT holders are spoiled for choice. Since the majority of NFTs are minted on the Ethereum blockchain, most wallets designed for Ethereum tokens can also support NFTs. Many popular crypto wallets are also adding support for NFTs to cater to the expanding market. 

Recently, hot NFT trends have included art, music, gaming, TV shows, film, decentralized finance (DeFI) and brand marketing. The growth of the NFT market has attracted a lot of curious new investors to the space, and just as with cryptocurrencies, obtaining a good NFT wallet is the first step before investing. 

How to Transact Using an NFT Wallet

A wallet is a necessary component of any NFT transaction process. It provides you with an address, just like a bank account number or the PayPal email address you use for making transfers and deposits. 

For example, if you’re a buyer, you’d provide your wallet address to the seller for them to “deposit” an NFT into your wallet. If you’re a seller, then you’d initiate a “transfer” from your wallet to your buyer’s wallet address. The entire process is encrypted from start to finish and secured by the blockchain, which is why crypto transactions are considered to be among the safest and most secure in the world. 

What Are the Benefits of Having an NFT Wallet?

An NFT wallet is necessary for keeping your NFTs safe, and for managing your private keys — the passwords that grant you access to your assets. The wallet doesn’t technically store your NFT, which resides on the blockchain. Instead, it holds information regarding the location of your assets on the blockchain, and provides the private keys that prove your ownership of a particular NFT and allow you to make transactions. 

With a good wallet, you can: 

• Securely control your private keys 

• Manage all your NFTs in one place

• Send and receive NFTs from anywhere in the world 

• Connect with decentralized apps (DApps) and NFT marketplaces, such as OpenSea

Coinbase app showing market data. Image source: Coinbase

It’s common sense not to leave your crypto assets in the hands of a third party. Crypto exchanges can collapse and vanish with client funds, and have done so. One famous example is the collapse of the Japanese-based crypto exchange Mt. Gox in 2014, after someone stole 850,000 bitcoins (valued at $450 million at the time). Those coins, which belonged to users, were stolen from the platform’s hot custodial wallet.

The above example illustrates why you should only store your assets in noncustodial wallets, which are separate from user accounts on crypto exchanges and marketplaces. With a noncustodial wallet, a user is in charge of their private key — the password that grants access to the wallet and signs transactions. If you lose your private key, you lose access to your assets — forever. 

What Makes a Good NFT Wallet?

Here are some factors that make a good NFT wallet.

• Two-factor authentication: Security is a very important consideration, especially with hot wallets. You should take every precaution possible to ensure your assets are safe, and activating security features such as two-factor authentication is the bare minimum. 

• Cross-blockchain compatibility: While the majority of NFTs exist on the Ethereum blockchain, it’s not the only blockchain network that supports them. It’s possible to mint, buy and sell NFTs on other networks, such as Tezos, Flow, Solana, Algorand, TRON, Binance Smart Chain, EOS and Cardano. If your NFT collection contains NFTs minted on different blockchains, then a wallet with cross-chain compatibility is a must. 

• Good UI: A “friendly” user interface is pretty important. NFTs — and crypto assets in general — are already a complicated concept for most beginners, and a complicated UI only makes matters worse. A good wallet should be user-friendly and easy to set up.

• Accessibility: A good wallet should be accessible on multiple devices. At the very least, it should be possible to access it on your computer via a web browser or desktop program, and on your smartphone via a mobile app. Ideally, the wallet should have real-time synchronization for transactions on all devices. 

What About Hardware Wallets? 

A hardware wallet by Ledger. Image source: Unsplash

Hardware wallets are physical devices like USB sticks that you can plug in to your computer to access your crypto assets. These are more secure because they’re completely offline, but that also makes them a little cumbersome to use. Popular brands of hardware wallets include Ledger and Trezor. 

While hardware wallets are generally considered incredibly safe for crypto storage because they’re offline, they aren’t without risk. If you lose the physical wallet and/or your private key, you won’t be able to access your assets. There is no password reset feature or cloud backup.

Unlike hot wallets, you must purchase hardware wallets from official suppliers. Buying a wallet secondhand or from an untrusted source is incredibly risky, as the device could be tampered with or faulty, or contain malware.

5 Best NFT Wallets for 2022

The meteoric rise of NFTs has led to the creation of a wide variety of NFT wallets. There are a lot to choose from, so to save you the trouble, we’ve tested multiple options to come up with a list of five of the best NFT wallets for 2022. 

1. MetaMask – Most Popular Choice

Image source: MetaMask 

In addition to supporting thousands of Ethereum-based tokens, MetaMask also supports NFTs minted on several blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain and Avalanche. Through web browser integration, MetaMask functions as a “bridge” connecting users to services provided by the Ethereum network, such as DeFi services, DApps, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and NFT marketplaces. 

To download MetaMask, simply visit the download page of the official website. MetaMask is available as a mobile application for Android and iOS and as an extension for Firefox, Chrome and Brave browsers. After installation, the next step is to create a wallet with a strong password. MetaMask will provide you with a 12-word backup phrase, which is crucial for recovering your wallet if you forget your password or can’t access your device.

You can use MetaMask to set up multiple wallet addresses for NFTs and cryptocurrencies that are all viewable in one place. As one of the most popular wallets, it’s very easy to connect MetaMask to DApps and crypto marketplaces. Many of these platforms have a “connect to wallet” option that often includes MetaMask. Once your wallet is connected, the platform or DApp will be able to view your public wallet addresses, making it very easy to initiate transfers. 

To learn more about Metamask, and how to download and use it, check out our in-depth guide to MetaMask. 

2. Enjin Wallet – Best for Trading/Swapping Crypto Tokens and NFTs

Image source: Enjin

With the Enjin Wallet, traders can create an infinite number of wallets for NFTs and cryptocurrencies — or import old wallets — without having to install any additional software. The wallet can seamlessly integrate with several marketplaces, including the Enjin Marketplace, Kyber, Changelly and Bancor, where traders can access hundreds of tokens with thousands of available trading pairs. 

The wallet app is also compatible with DApps and DeFi swaps built for Android devices. Other advanced features of the Enjin Wallet include biometric security, seamless importation/tracking from different wallets, automatic gas fee calculations and multilingual support.

To download the Enjin Wallet, visit the download page on the Enjin website. The app is currently only available on Android and iOS. Once you choose your operating system, you’ll be redirected to the appropriate download page. Go through the setup process to create a secure wallet with a strong password. Make sure to save the provided recovery phrase somewhere safe — because you’ll need it if you lose or forget your password. 

To learn more about the Enjin Wallet app, how to download it and how it works, check out our extensive guide to

3. Trust Wallet – Best NFT Wallet for Staking

Image source: Trust Wallet

Like all the other entries in this section, this wallet will provide you with a 12-word recovery phrase that can be used to recover access to your wallet if you lose your password. The app offers a variety of security measures, including PIN code locking and fingerprint scanning. It features built-in charts for tracking crypto prices and a Web3 browser that can interact with DApps built on Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain. 

Trust Wallet also supports staking, allowing users to stake a variety of proof of stake (PoS) coins including Binance Coin (BNB), TRON (TXR), Cosmos (ATOM), Callisto (CLO), VeChain (VET), Algorand (ALGO), IoTeX (IOTX), Kava (KAVA), Osmosis (OSMO), Terra (LUNA) and TomoChain (TOMO). By staking any of these tokens, users can generate passive income and gain the power to vote on proposals involving the staked token. 

Trust Wallet is easy to use, with an intuitive and straightforward interface that’s beginner friendly. The wallet’s acquisition by Binance ensures that it will continue to be developed, with more features added in the future as the crypto space continues to evolve.

4. Math Wallet – Best Multi-Platform Option

Image source: Math Wallet

Math Wallet gives users access to a variety of robust products, including a native DApp store with over 3,000 DApps; a service called MathVault that offers centralized finance (CeFi), DeFi and staking; and MathChain, a decentralized parachain that’s trying to bridge the gap between Web 2.0 and the crypto world. 

To begin storing your NFTs in Math Wallet, you must first download the version of the wallet app that has NFT support (Android only), or use the browser extension (Chrome). Once you’ve downloaded the app and set up a new wallet, you can instantly start transferring NFTs to your new address. 

Math Wallet has received backing from some big names in the industry, such as Binance Labs, Alameda Research, Fenbushi Capital, Amber Group and Multicoin Capital, to name a few. While institutional backing doesn’t automatically guarantee success, it does mean that the project’s developers can at least be trusted to continue working on the wallet and expand its functionality. 

5. Coinbase Wallet – Most Recognizable Industry Name

Image source: Coinbase

Among its products is a noncustodial crypto wallet called Coinbase Wallet that supports NFTs and over 5,500 ERC-20 tokens. Unlike the custodial wallet provided on the Coinbase exchange platform, the Coinbase Wallet is a mobile app and browser extension that gives users full control over their assets, keys and data.

To get started with the Coinbase Wallet, download the mobile app on the Google Play Storeor Apple App Store. Alternatively, you can use the browser extension available for Chrome browsers. Once it’s downloaded, create a new wallet with a unique username and password. The app will provide you with a 12-word recovery phrase which you should store in a secure location. If you’re a new or existing Coinbase user, you can use the platform to fund your new wallet. You can also transfer crypto from another wallet to your new wallet address. 

Coinbase Wallet has numerous perks, such as the ability to easily transfer tokens to other Coinbase customers via usernames instead of public wallet addresses. It also offers one-click encrypted cloud backup for private keys that can help ensure you never lose access to your NFTs or other tokens held in the wallet.

The Bottom Line on NFT Wallets

The NFT hype train of 2021 is showing no signs of slowing down, as crypto platforms continue to come up with innovative financial prospects for the technology. A good wallet is a must for anyone entering the space. To learn more about NFTs and their use cases, check out our guide to NFTs. If you want to start buying NFTs, visit Bybit Spot to get started now!