The industry is seeking solutions for NFT image hosting disasters

by · January 6, 2023

The image hosting aspect of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) needs major improvements. At first people saw NFTs on FTX going bust after it declared bankruptcy. Recently, NFTs on the Magic Eden marketplace displayed some questionable images instead of their actual thumbnails.

As the problem persists, Cointelegraph reached out to various industry leaders to get their thoughts on how NFT projects can solve the NFT hosting problem.

NFT marketplace Magic Eden that displays pornographic images. Source: Twitter

From using trusted blockchains to exploring the storage technologies available in the Web3 space, various leaders working in the NFT industry offered their thoughts on how to avoid future problems with NFT image hosting.

Samuel Huber, CEO of metaverse platform LandVault, noted that the problem with FTX NFTs is that the metadata was hosted using a Web2 API. According to Huber, the best course of action for NFT projects to avoid these types of issues is to use trusted blockchains for the NFTs themselves and store NFTs on a distributed ledger that is not controlled by a single entity.

The executive also told Cointelegraph that while there are very few projects currently hosting the actual images on the chain, it is of the utmost importance to ensure that the metadata and files are properly hosted. He added that:

“Projects should verify if the platforms use decentralized hosting providers such as IPFS and Airweave for metadata and other files linked to NFT.”

Alex Altgausen, CEO of play-to-earn NFT game Banksters, also agreed with the sentiment. The executive believes that if NFT projects are truly trying to disrupt traditional industries like gaming, they need to explore storage technologies already available in the Web3 space.

Altgausen told Cointelegraph that there are new technologies that “distribute file storage using multiple decentralized options.” These allow computers around the world to store and serve files in a peer-to-peer network, removing reliance on traditional Web2 storage providers such as Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud.

Related: Magic Eden to refund users for fake NFTs sold due to exploitation

On the users’ side, it may not be easy to check whether this can happen with the NFTs they buy. Radek Pléha, the co-founder of NFT ticketing platform BillionAir, told Cointelegraph that users need to do their own due diligence and examine the project’s storage infrastructure to ensure this does not happen to their NFTs. “This could include reviewing the project’s whitepaper and looking for any security measures that have been implemented, as well as looking for reviews and feedback,” he added. Pléha also said:

“Unfortunately, not all NFT metadata is stored on the blockchain, as mainchains can be limited in size and more expensive for data storage.”

On August 5, Jonathan Victor, Web3 storage lead at Protocol Labs and Rarible CEO Alex Salnikov also discussed how NFTs do not live on the blockchain. Victor highlighted that due to size limitations in the main chains, off-chain storage solutions are being introduced to NFTs. He also highlighted the use of decentralized storage networks for NFT metadata. On the other hand, Salnikov said that NFT transactions are verified on the blockchain, but the NFT metadata is usually stored elsewhere.