Metaplex `Nft` object has a 'mint address' and a 'mint account'. What is the difference?

Question

I understand what a mint account is. For example, I know that USDC has a single mint address on mainnet.

I know what associated token accounts are. For example, I know that my personal store of USDC is a token account inside by wallet.

However what I don't understand is the documentation from Metaplex:

/**
 * This model captures all the relevant information about an NFT
 * in the Solana blockchain. That includes the NFT's metadata account,
 * its mint account, its edition account and its off-chain JSON metadata.
 *
 * @group Models
 */
export type Nft = Omit<Metadata, 'model' | 'address' | 'mintAddress'> & {
    /** A model identifier to distinguish models in the SDK. */
    readonly model: 'nft';
    /** The mint address of the NFT. */
    readonly address: PublicKey;
    /** The metadata address of the NFT. */
    readonly metadataAddress: Pda;
    /** The mint account of the NFT. */
    readonly mint: Mint;
    /**
     * Defines whether the NFT is an original edition or a
     * printed edition and provides additional information accordingly.
     */
    readonly edition: NftEdition;
};

Metaplex says:

• address is 'the mint address of the NFT'
• metadataAddress is 'the metadata address of the NFT'
• mint is 'the mint account of the NFT'

My problem: 'the mint address of the NFT' and 'the mint account of the NFT' seem like the same thing. What is the difference between them?

Answer 1

Although the TypeScript document describes mint as mint account, mint is an actually an object that gives you the data stored on the mint account such as decimals, supply, etc.

/**
 * This model represents a mint account.
 *
 * @group Models
 */
export type Mint = {
    /** A model identifier to distinguish models in the SDK. */
    readonly model: 'mint';
    /** The address of the mint account. */
    readonly address: PublicKey;
    /**
     * The address of the authority that is allowed
     * to mint new tokens to token accounts.
     *
     * When `null`, no authority is ever allowed to mint new tokens.
     */
    readonly mintAuthorityAddress: Option<PublicKey>;
    /**
     * The address of the authority that is allowed
     * to freeze token accounts.
     *
     * When `null`, no authority is ever allowed to freeze token accounts.
     */
    readonly freezeAuthorityAddress: Option<PublicKey>;
    /**
     * The number of decimal points used to define token amounts.
     */
    readonly decimals: number;
    /**
     * The current supply of tokens across all token accounts.
     */
    readonly supply: SplTokenAmount;
    /**
     * Helper boolean to determine whether this mint account is the
     * mint account that wraps SOL as an SPL token.
     */
    readonly isWrappedSol: boolean;
    /**
     * A currency object that can be used to create amounts
     * representing the tokens of this mint account.
     *
     * For instance, here's how you can transform an amount of token
     * in basis points into an `Amount` object.
     *
     * ```ts
     * const tokenBasisPoints = 1000;
     * const tokensAsAmount = amount(tokenBasisPoints, mint.currency);
     * ```
     */
    readonly currency: SplTokenCurrency;
};