The Storage Problem

Most NFTs don't store the actual media onchain. The token on Ethereum or Solana points to a URL where the image, video, or metadata lives. If that URL goes down, the NFT becomes a pointer to nothing. This has happened repeatedly with NFTs stored on centralized servers.

Arweave solves this by providing permanent, decentralized storage where the media and metadata live forever.

Metaplex: The Default Standard

Metaplex is the dominant NFT standard on Solana. When a creator mints an NFT through Metaplex, the JSON metadata and the actual media file are stored permanently on Arweave via bundling services like ArDrive Turbo.

The numbers are significant:

• 130+ million NFTs minted through Metaplex
• 78% of all Solana NFTs created via Candy Machine
• The vast majority of all data uploaded to Arweave arrives through bundlers

Arweave is not an optional integration for Metaplex. It is the default storage layer that ships with the SDK.

Jay-Z at Sotheby's

In June 2021, Sotheby's auctioned Jay-Z's first NFT: "Heir to the Throne", a collaboration with artist Derrick Adams celebrating the 25th anniversary of Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt.

Key details:

• The NFT sold for $139,000 at Sotheby's
• The 500MB digital animation was stored permanently on Arweave
• Sotheby's rated Arweave as "the most robust decentralized file storage system"
• Proceeds went to The Shawn Carter Foundation

This was notable not just for the celebrity involvement, but because Sotheby's, one of the world's most prestigious auction houses, publicly endorsed Arweave's storage model.

Meta and Instagram

On November 2, 2022, Arweave co-founder Sam Williams announced that Arweave had been integrated with Meta for Instagram digital collectibles storage. Stephane Kasriel, Meta's head of Commerce and Financial Technology, confirmed Meta was rolling out tools to make and sell NFTs directly on Instagram.

Arweave was chosen as the permanent decentralized storage layer for creators' NFTs on Instagram. The AR token surged approximately 60-75% on the announcement.

Meta subsequently wound down its NFT program in March 2023, but the integration demonstrated that one of the world's largest technology companies evaluated multiple storage options and chose Arweave.

Internet Archive

In July 2020, the Internet Archive partnered with Arweave to store over 700,000 torrent files of Wayback Machine metadata on the permanent web. This provides a decentralized, censorship-resistant backup of one of the internet's most important historical archives.

Why Permanent Storage Matters for NFTs

The value proposition is straightforward:

• No link rot: The media file exists permanently, not at a URL that might expire
• No server dependency: No hosting provider can take the content offline
• No recurring costs: One-time payment covers permanent storage
• Verifiable: Anyone can confirm the data exists and hasn't been modified

When you buy an NFT stored on Arweave, you're buying a pointer to data that is guaranteed to exist for as long as the Arweave network operates. That's the difference between owning a receipt for a file on someone else's server and owning a reference to permanently stored data.