How to buy an NFT safely and avoid fakes
Buy an NFT safely with an established marketplace, the official contract address, and a self-custody wallet. A confirmed transfer cannot be undone.
Vahe HakobyanEditor-in-chief
Updated Oct 6, 20263 min readFact-checked
- A verified badge does not prove every listing is genuine.
- Keep your recovery phrase offline, not in email or photos.
- Crypto sent on the wrong blockchain can be lost.
Buying an NFT safely means using an established marketplace, confirming the contract address from the project itself, and paying from a wallet whose recovery phrase you hold offline.
What you need before buying
Set up a self-custody wallet before you open any listing. Shop only on marketplaces that have operated for years, and find the collection's official contract address on the project's own site or verified social account. A verified badge does not make every NFT authentic.
How to buy an NFT safely
With the wallet ready, read each approval before you sign it.
- 1Fund your walletBuy the cryptocurrency the NFT's blockchain uses and send it to your wallet on the same network. A wrong network can make funds unrecoverable.
- 2Connect the walletApprove the connection request on the marketplace. Cancel anything that asks for more than a connection.
- 3Check the contract and listingCompare the listing's contract address with the official address on the project's site. Then confirm the price, seller, blockchain, and fees before you continue.
- 4Confirm and waitApprove the transaction and pay the network fee. The sale is final only after the transaction is included in a block.
After buying: records and safety
Save the transaction hash, date, price, and fair market value of the crypto you paid. The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property, so paying with crypto can create a taxable gain or loss. Ignore public giveaway links and unsolicited mint offers, which are often wallet-draining phishing.
Frequently asked questions
Sometimes, in two steps. Some wallets let you buy cryptocurrency with a card, and you then use that crypto to pay for the NFT.
Crypto transactions usually cannot be reversed, so only the seller can refund you. Report the listing and ignore recovery offers in direct messages.
Usually not. Buying the token transfers the token, and copyright stays with the creator unless the sale terms say otherwise.
