Day 49 of #100DaysOfSolana 🚀
Over the past week, I went from knowing almost nothing about Solana NFTs to building a complete NFT collection using the Token-2022 program.
One thing completely changed my understanding:
An NFT isn't a special kind of blockchain object. It's simply a token mint configured with the right properties and extensions.
What I Built
During this NFT arc I learned how to:
- ✅ Mint a 1-of-1 NFT (Supply = 1, Decimals = 0)
- ✅ Disable the Mint Authority to permanently lock the supply
- ✅ Store metadata directly on-chain using the Metadata extension
- ✅ Create NFT collections using the Group and Member extensions
- ✅ Audit NFT state directly from the blockchain
- ✅ Update NFT metadata live on Devnet
- ✅ Understand the difference between on-chain metadata and off-chain images
One of my favorite moments was updating an NFT's metadata with a single command:
spl-token update-metadata <MINT> name "Field Notes"
spl-token update-metadata <MINT> rarity legendary
Watching those changes appear on Solana Explorer made me realize that NFTs aren't static JPEGs—they can be programmable digital assets.
Biggest Takeaway
Coming from Web2, I expected NFTs to require complicated smart contracts.
Instead, I discovered that Solana's Token Extensions (Token-2022) provide many advanced capabilities directly at the protocol level.
Metadata, collections, transfer rules, and many other behaviors are built into the token itself rather than implemented separately in application code.
That was probably the biggest mental shift for me.
Read the Full Technical Deep Dive
I documented everything I learned in detail here:
👉 Solana NFTs Without Metaplex: What I Learned Building NFTs with Token Extensions
If you're a Web2 developer curious about how NFTs actually work under the hood on Solana, I hope it helps.
This post is part of my *#100DaysOfSolana** journey. Every day I'm learning something new about building on Solana, one challenge at a time.*
Top comments (0)