nft
Compressed NFT (cNFT)
A Solana variant of NFTs that compresses data via Merkle trees, cutting the cost per NFT to fractions of a cent.
Compressed NFT (cNFT)
A compressed NFT is a Solana variant of NFTs that uses state compression. Instead of storing each NFT in its own account, the holdings are represented through a Merkle tree, with only the root kept on-chain.
Why it matters
- Very low cost: minting large quantities is pushed down to fractions of a cent each.
- Scaling: millions of NFTs become practical — e.g. for gaming, ticketing, or loyalty programs.
- Trade-off: the full data lives off-chain with indexers; on-chain there is only the cryptographic proof (Merkle proof).
Forensic relevance
cNFTs remain uniquely verifiable through their Merkle proof. Mint history and ownership changes stay traceable on-chain, even though the metadata is compressed.
Related Terms
Token Metadata Smart Contract Compute Unit