Create Compressed NFTs on Solana

A compressed NFT (cNFT) is a Metaplex Bubblegum asset. The NFT data is a leaf in a Merkle tree. Solana stores a hash of the tree on-chain, not a full token account for every item. That is why large mints cost less SOL than one account per NFT.

State compression and the tree

State compression keeps the leaf data available to indexers while the account only stores the root. A Merkle tree is the structure of those hashes: change one leaf and the root changes. You do not manage the tree math yourself. Bubblegum writes the leaf when you mint.

cNFT vs Core vs Token Metadata

• Compressed: Bubblegum leaf. Cheaper mints. Reads go through DAS.
• Core: one asset account in a Core collection. Plugins live on that account.
• Token Metadata: SPL mint plus a metadata account. This site does not mint that standard from the compressed form.

When to use cNFTs

Use them for large allowlists, event tickets, or drops where cost per item matters and your audience’s wallets can display DAS assets. Use Core when you want a single asset account and Core plugins. A compressed collection is a Bubblegum collection, not a Core collection. Do not paste a Core collection into the compressed form and expect Core plugins.

Mint, transfer, burn

Mint with Create an NFT. Transfers are normal wallet transfers of the compressed asset, if the wallet supports them. Burning a cNFT is not the same instruction as burning a Core asset or an SPL token. Use Burn NFTs only for the standards that tool lists. Indexers can lag a few seconds after a mint; the transaction succeeding is the source of truth.

Limits

Not every marketplace reads compressed assets. Proofs are required for some writes, which is why a DAS-capable RPC matters. This guide does not create a tree for you. The mint form uses the tree configuration already built into that tool.