Tackling NFT Theft With the Three Address Protocol

The Three Address Protocol offers a structured strategy to safeguard non-fungible tokens (NFTs), dividing activities across three specialized addresses to combat digital asset theft.

TAP: Candidate For The New Standard in NFT Security

The NFT community has long been plagued by NFT thefts, with high-profile cases often involving losses of digital assets worth hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars. These incidents illustrate the pressing need for enhanced security measures in the management of NFTs. In response, prominent NFT collector, advocate, and X personality punk6529 proffered a novel solution called The Three Address Protocol (TAP), offering a systematic approach to safeguarding these valuable digital assets.

1/ On TAP

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

✅ Three (T)
✅ Address (A)
✅ Protocol (P)

The way to *never* have your grail NFTs phished is to religiously TAP.

It is super-easy to do, you should all do it.

There is NO excuse not to do it! NONE!

— 6529 (@punk6529) September 12, 2023

Recently another X user, Inflatablebag, extrapolated on punk6529’s initial TAP concept, positing that TAP should be adopted as an industry standard. For those unfamiliar with TAP, at its core, TAP involves the use of three distinct types of Ethereum addresses to manage NFTs: the Vault, the Transaction, and the Minting address. Each address serves a specific purpose, creating layers of security that significantly mitigate the risk of phishing and theft.

1. Vault address: The ice-cold Fort Knox of NFTs

• The Vault address is ultra-secure and is used exclusively for storing NFTs not intended for immediate sale.
• This address remains disconnected from any online services, ensuring that NFTs are kept in a “deep freeze” state.
• NFTs are only transferred in or out of this address, and it’s crucial to never mint directly from the Vault.

2. Transaction address: The active trading hub

• This “warm” address is where NFTs currently up for sale are stored.
• Transactions occur exclusively on recognized exchanges, and once an NFT is bought, it’s promptly moved to the Vault.
• This address balances accessibility with security, allowing for active trading while minimizing exposure.

3. Minting address: The NFT creation station

• The Minting address is a “hot” address used solely for minting new NFTs.
• It doesn’t hold any NFTs long-term; once minting is completed, NFTs are transferred to either the Transaction or Vault address.
• This address can interact with various platforms, reducing the risk associated with primary transactional activities.

TAP’s strength lies in its simplicity and adaptability to any wallet setup, including for beginners with software wallets. By segregating activities into these three addresses, users ensure that their valuable NFTs are never compromised by phishing sites or wallet drainers. Notably, TAP’s effectiveness is independent of the wallet’s type, whether it’s a software wallet or a hardware wallet. While hardware wallets offer protection against computer malware, they are not immune to user errors like connecting to malicious sites. TAP addresses this gap by clearly delineating where and how each type of transaction should occur.

The proposal to make it standard in every wallet would go a long way to helping even new users who may lack a deep understanding of crypto security. Upon setting up a wallet, users would automatically receive three sub-wallets – Vault, Transaction, and Minting – each would be a distinct, human-readable subdomain of the main wallet address. For example, if the main wallet address is 0x123ab…8stuv, then the sub-wallets could be: Vault.0x123ab…8stuv, Transaction.0x123ab…8stuv, and Minting.0x123ab…8stuv. This setup minimizes user error and guides them towards maintaining optimal security practices right from the start.

By making TAP a standard feature of every wallet, the industry can dramatically improve overall security, especially for new entrants, and reduce the incidence of NFT theft and phishing scams. As the crypto landscape becomes more mainstream, incorporating robust and user-friendly security measures like TAP is essential for fostering trust and growth in digital assets.

Do you think major crypto wallet providers should incorporate TAP into their wallets? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.