What happens to my NFT if the marketplace shuts down?

When the marketplace I used folded last year, I worried I’d lose the NFT. Ownership was on the blockchain, not in the site, so the token didn’t vanish. The real risk is metadata and art hosted by the marketplace. If the URI points to IPFS or on-chain data, you’re safer; if it’s a URL on their servers, it can go dark. I checked mine: some were IPFS-backed, some not. I kept local backups of the art and added IPFS pinning so the hash stays reachable. My move since then: buy from platforms that let you withdraw to your own wallet and prefer tokens with IPFS/on-chain metadata. If a marketplace shuts down, you can still transfer the NFT to another marketplace or wallet; you just might need to fetch or re-pin the content.

When a marketplace shuts down, your NFT doesn't vanish. You own the token on the blockchain, and as long as you have your wallet and private keys, you can still transfer or sell it on another platform that supports the same standard (ERC-721/1155). In my experience, I held a piece on a smaller market that disappeared. I checked the token contract address and token ID, then imported the contract into MetaMask and opened a different marketplace. The NFT showed up in my collection right away and I could list it again. A couple of caveats: if the marketplace hosted the media or metadata only on their servers, access to the image or description could be lost if they go dark. If the media is linked via IPFS or stored on-chain, you’re safer. To prepare, keep a record of the token contract address, token ID, and the metadata URL or IPFS hash, and ensure your wallet isn’t reliant on the marketplace’s custody. Also, be aware of any royalties that may be enforced by the new platform.