Science&Tech Switzerland’s National Postal Service will introduce NFT digital stamps Posted on October 2, 2021 4 min read Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Switzerland’s National Postal Service is working to bridge the gap between physical stamps and the digital cryptocurrency industry by introducing tradable digital stamps. On September 20, the Swiss Post officially announced the launch of the “Swiss crypto stamp”. This is a digital collector’s item linked to a physical stamp issued by the postal service that is worth 8.9 Swiss francs. The Swiss crypto stamp will be a digital representation of a physical stamp and will be stored on a blockchain. A Swiss Post spokesperson said: “Each design forms an NFT and is stored in the Polygon Blockchain”. Buyers can get a digital ‘copy’ of their physical stamp online via a QR code that is printed alongside the physical stamp. The image of the crypto stamp shows one of the 13 possible designs and can be collected, exchanged and traded online, according to the Swiss Post. According to a Swiss Post representative, customers can trade or sell crypto stamps on platforms such as the large NFT marketplace OpenSea. “The Swiss Post only sells the Swiss crypto stamp, trading with it takes place separately from the Swiss Post,” the spokesperson added. The upcoming Swiss crypto stamp will apparently offer an experience somewhat similar to NFTS, as some of the Stamps will have a rare design. The Swiss Post wrote the following: “Some are more common, while others are much rarer and more popular. There are 65,000 copies of the most common digital design, but only 50 of the rarest. One thing is clear: the Swiss crypto stamp means that the collection, exchange and trading of stamps has also become digital.” The Swiss crypto stamp will be launched at the end of november. 175,000 such stamps will be sent to selected Swiss Post Offices on 25 november. According to the announcement, the Swiss crypto stamp will be the first stamp of its kind ever launched in Switzerland. Switzerland is not the first country to experiment with blockchain technology to offer collectables for digital stamps. In May 2021, the Austrian Postal Service announced plans to include NFC chips in its Crypto Stamp 3.0. This is the third version of his limited-edition NFT stamp collection series. Austria released its very first crypto stamp in 2019.
