Bpost launches first Belgian crypto stamp

Postal company Bpost has launched the first Belgian crypto stamp. It will be illustrated with a dragon and will be offered with a physical stamp. Pre-order starts on 16 October.

The 9-euro stamp consists of a physical stamp and a digital stamp. The digital "twin" will have to be activated online. 

The digital version is a non-fungible token (NFT), which grants unique ownership to the holder. The NFT can be exchanged or traded. NFTs were a big hype a few years ago, but the market has since cooled down.

For the stamp issue, bpost joined forces with the Austrian, Dutch and Luxembourg postal services. The four countries chose a dragon as the illustration as 2024 is the year of the dragon in Chinese astrology, where it symbolises prosperity and good fortune.

The physical stamps will all look the same, but the digital twins will exist in five different colours. Just over half of the digital dragons are black, while 1 per cent will have a red dragon as an illustration.

The stamps can be pre-ordered from 16 October via bpost's online shop.

^{The headquarters of Bpost bank in Brussels © BELGA PHOTO HATIM KAGHAT}