What are compressed NFTs?

Unlike regular Solana NFTs, the data for compressed NFTs is stored off-chain in a structure known as a Merkle Tree. Compressed NFTs are still minted and confirmed on-chain however, and can still be used and interacted with in a similar fashion to regular NFTs, or even converted to a decompressed state. Standards for compressed NFTs have been developed by many contributors in the ecosystem, with the implementation taking advantage of the Gummyroll and Bubblegum programs from Solana Labs and Metaplex respectively.

Compressed NFTs have several advantages over standard Solana NFTs, centered around how much cheaper they are to mint – with estimates that to mint 1 billion NFTs, the cost would be about 24,000 times cheaper using compressed NFTs than traditional methods. Metaplex provides a detailed primer on the implementation details of compressed NFTs.

How can I use compressed NFTs in my app?

SimpleHash makes it easy for developers of crypto wallets, NFT minting platforms, NFT games and other end users to utilize compressed NFTs. They show up in the existing endpoint responses like regular Solana NFTs, so there’s no need for different queries, or to change workflows.

SimpleHash abstracts away all of the complexity of working with compressed NFT data, and pulls through all of the metadata, media, transaction history and pricing information, just like regular Solana NFTs. We also include information on the compressed status of the NFT, its merkle root, and its leaf index.

About SimpleHash

SimpleHash is the world’s leading provider of NFT data, and a leader in implementation of new NFT standards. Developers using the API can get instant access to metadata, media, transaction history, sales, floor prices, listings, rarity scores and collection info across 20 chains. To get started working with Solana, or any other chain, read through our API docs, or reach out at hello@simplehash.com

‍