The NFT Experience Just got Better – in Ledger Live

By Mohammad Musharraf

The NFT experience just got better – with Ledger Live’s native NFT integration! Here, we explain what’s changing, and how this benefits you.

If you’re feeling like NFT’s are taking over – you might well be right. Since most of us first heard of these blockchain based tokens, their utility and use cases have exploded. From unique artwork to metaverse land, DAO and community membership and online identity, NFTs have passed beyond pictures and videos and become digital real estate that we use to define ourselves, our group and our personal aspirations. 

With that in mind, NFTs are fast becoming the first point of contact for people entering the crypto-shere, and being able to manage these assets securely and conveniently is a must for the Web 3 generation.

Leading that charge, Ledger has integrated native NFT support for NFTs on Ethereum and Polygon within the Ledger Live platform, meaning you can benefit from the unparalleled security of the Ledger Nano, while enjoying a seamless management experience for your NFTs from within the Ledger Live interface. Let’s take a deep dive into how Ledger is bringing you the very best NFT ownership experience, and while enabling you and your community to stay secure.

Understanding NFT Security

Like fashion, art and music, NFTs are a beacon for identity, culture and community building, attracting newcomers to crypto in their millions as individuals explore, connect and become part of emerging ideas and groups.

Yet, unlike their cultural predecessors, the digital nature of NFTs means they come with an important learning curve, and some unique security considerations, for owners. Self-custody of digital assets is something many of us aren’t familiar with and, unfortunately, scammers know that; this exploding space can also be a hotbed for hacks and phishing for anyone not up to date on their security.

So if you’re all set to go ape-ing into NFTs, this is the article for you. Let’s go over the key risks to your NFTs – before discussing how Ledger is overcoming these to bring NFT culture vultures a seamless experience on our interface.

Not Your Keys, Not Your NFTs

We know – you’re sick of hearing it. But hey – this is important! Private keys are the very definition of crypto ownership, and this, of course, extends to NFTs, which are also blockchain assets.

Your private keys give you – and anyone else in possession of them – access to your crypto assets. So keeping them secret and secure is absolutely critical for your security: not your keys, not your NFTs.

The type of wallet you’re using to secure your NFTs, and how it generates and stores your private keys, is central to that question. For example, a hot wallet that exists online might secure your NFTs and make it easy to interact with certain dApps; but it will also mean your private keys are stored on an online application, which can be hacked remotely.

Hot Wallets: Vulnerable Private Keys and Lack of Two Factor Authentication

Further to this, when your hot wallet was first generated, the private keys would have been physically shown to you on the screen of your device. Malware deployed through bad links can scan or spy on your device, meaning anything that appears here could potentially be seen by a bad actor and used in future to access your NFTs – this is especially problematic since hot wallets don’t require two-step authentication of your transactions, so you may not always know about suspicious activity within your wallet, or be able to stop it. A private key is all that’s needed.

So to summarize, while hot wallets might have been a convenient way for short term security and accessing certain dApps, their vulnerabilities mean they are not secure enough to store your hard earned NFT collection long term.

Cold Wallets: Security and Complexity

Meanwhile, using a cold wallet keeps your private keys offline entirely thanks to the way they are generated and stored – but is often a more complicated experience when it comes to interacting with other platforms, and has often involved using a middleware. That’s something we’re changing, but we’ll talk about it below.

To dive deeper into the importance of securing your private keys, read this detailed article on Ledger Academy.

Limited NFT Visualisation

Visualising your NFTs has often relied on using an NFT marketplace, with most wallets not enabling this within their native interface. But for the-end user, this means a compromised experience: NFTs are visual assets, and being able to view your collection within your wallet interface is key to your experience as a collector, as well as the simplicity of your NFT management.

Phishing and Blind Signing Attacks

And finally – let’s talk a bit about blind signing. Instead of trying to access your crypto by force, blind signing relies on you simply opening the door for clever intruders, and they exploit a gap in crypto security technology to make that happen.

When you’re interacting with a platform using your NFTs, you will often need to approve particular interactions with your wallet. Sending an NFT to a platform or another person is a great example; here, you’ll need to give permission for the NFT to leave your wallet, which means approving a message that will pop up in your wallet, asking you to either confirm or reject the smart contract. 

But here’s the problem: smart contracts have been outpacing the development of crypto security tools, and it’s not always been possible for wallets to read the details of a transaction and then show it to you.

Instead, what you’ll be shown is alphanumeric digits that don’t allow you to really understand what you’re signing. Users simply need to make a blind decision about whether to accept the transaction, based on how much you actually trust the platform.

Scammers use this blind spot by engineering scenarios that convince you to blind sign a malicious transaction – so for example, you might think you’re simply sending a single NFT, but the smart contract you’re approving actually empties your entire wallet. The notorious OpenSea blind signing scam is a prime example of how this can happen even to a seasoned pro.

So this vulnerability relies not only on social engineering, but also on the accepted “unknown” of smart contract interactions. 

But what if that “unknown” didn’t exist at all and you could always check what you’re signing? This is another of the key offerings Ledger Live NFT support is bringing to the table.

NFTs on Ledger Live: Seamless Security, All in One Place

As we know, NFTs pose unique new challenges for security – but that doesn’t mean your exploration should be curbed.

At Ledger, our focus isn’t just on offering you the most secure crypto storage solution but also on creating the most secure gateway for actively engaging with all aspects of this booming space.

Taking that charge further, we recently integrated NFT management within Ledger Live, to allow you to secure, visualize, and use your NFTs from within the Ledger Ecosystem. We’re committed to bringing you all aspects of the NFT experience in one intuitive, secure space, with our integrations constantly consutantly expanding.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how Ledger’s expanding ecosystem improves the NFT experience for you.

Secure Your Keys, Secure Your NFTs

Ledger Nano wallets run on a basic principle: what’s not connected to the internet cannot be hacked into. Our hardware wallet not only stores your private keys completely offline, it also allows transactions to be signed offline within the safety of the device. Keeping those all-important private keys offline in a hardware wallet means no chance of cyber threats to your assets, as long as you securely store your seed phrase.

The Ledger Nano is the first and only hardware wallet that is certified for its security and comes with a Secure Element chip (the most secure chip in the market) – meaning what’s in your Nano stays there and cannot be accessed even by the most sophisticated hacker.

Enhanced Security with Two Factor Authentication

And it goes without saying – since all your interactions take place while the private keys for your NFTs are securely in your hardware wallet, you’ll always be aware of any activity that’s taking place with your digital assets. No transaction can be completed without your physical approval on your Ledger Nano, meaning you’ll have a chance to check and verifiy anything moving from your account.

Say goodbye to malware attacks and hacks – your NFTs are going nowhere without your expess (and now totally transparent) approval.

Clear Signing – with Ledger’s Trusted Display

With its trusted display screen – which is untamperable and immune to hacks – Ledger Nano means you can have complete certainty that the transaction you’re signing is genuine, and hasn’t been manipulated by a hacker or malware. The device is never connected to the internet, meaning you can trust the data the screen displays, and use it to verify your transactions details definitively.

Our NFT integration also means you can wave goodbye to blind signing! Now, you’ll be able to see full details of your NFT transactions – including the collection and the item you’re sending – every time you send through Ledger Live.

Nothing is more important than transparency, and by enabling clear signing via your trusted display, our NFT support makes that the new norm.

Visualise Your NFTs Within Ledger’s Interface

As it stands, most wallets only represent your NFTs but they do not allow you to see your NFTs in your wallet. To do that, you need to visit an NFT marketplace that supports your wallet which allows you to visualize your collection. To overcome this, Ledger Live’s native NFT integration allows users to easily view and manage the NFTs that they own within the interface.

How Ledger Helps NFT Culture Thrive

Innovation in crypto is constant, so as part of our mission to be a platform for the culture being formed around this technology. As a result, Ledger remains open source; this allows projects of all sizes to integrate the Ledger technology into their platforms, amplifying the incredible work being offered by developers for regular users, without ever compromising security.

Ledger Nano: The Most Important Piece of the NFT Puzzle

Security threats will always exist. But your approach to those threats will determine whether they curb your journey through the booming universe of NFTs. If you’re still not very sure of what security measures you can take to secure your digital assets, our Security series on Ledger Academy is a must-read for you.

The integration of native NFT support on Ledger Live makes NFTs the first class citizens of Ledger’s ecosystem, letting you visualise your NFTs and interact with complete freedom, while enjoying the absolute security of Ledger’s hardware wallet. And with our NFT-focused integrations only set to continue, our ecosystem is on track to become the starting point for any NFT exploration.

So grab your Nano and jump in – we’re as excited as you!

Knowledge is Power.