Post offices adopting NFTs are leading to a philatelic renaissance

by · October 21, 2022

Philately? If you’re a millennial, there’s a good chance you used Google to find out there’s a word dedicated to collecting and studying stamps.

The same search also paints the picture of a hobby in decline, as younger generations are increasingly preoccupied with their screens and the constant stream of dopamine hits served up by TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and other popular social media platforms.

Two European postal services have sought to capitalize on the popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in recent years to reinvigorate the philatelic sector. Cointelegraph caught up with Dutch PostNL and the Austrian Post Office (PostAG) at the Blockchain Expo in Amsterdam to delve into their collaborative efforts that have successfully married stamps with NFTs.

PostAG head of philately Patricia Liebermann and PostNL head of product Sacha van Hoorn are a lively duo who have ignited a working friendship that appears to be the backbone of the NFT-driven renaissance of stamp collecting in both countries.

Liebermann and van Hoorn at the Crypto Stamp stand during the Blockchain Expo in Amsterdam.

PostAG first explored using NFT stamps in 2019 with real-world stamps issued with a digital twin NFT originally minted on the Ethereum blockchain. Over the next two years, the Austrian Post Office continued the project with Near Field Communication (NFC) functionality introduced in 2021 to promote the functionality, verifiability and security of stamps.

Reflecting on the waning interest in philately, Liebermann unpacked the initial idea and its rapid adoption three years ago:

“In 2019, we invented the idea of ​​having a physical stamp combined with an NFT. It was incredible and we were overwhelmed by all the feedback. And that’s why we said, ‘Okay, there’s a target audience out there that’s interested in this new way of collecting.'”

Van Hoorn’s efforts to continue to innovate PostNL’s stamp offering had already explored the use of augmented reality and artificial intelligence on stamps, but PostAG’s NFT exploits led her to reach out to her Austrian counterpart. Knowing that development would take a significant amount of time and resources, a partnership was formed:

“So we actually decided to contact the Austrians because they were the first, and we really wanted to have their experience and knowledge and ask them, ‘How did you do it?'”

The partnership has culminated in a joint launch of a new issue of Crypto Stamps, billed as the first joint issuance of crypto stamps. It is also the first issue of PostNL NFT stamps, with the stamps issued in a range of respective colors of the Dutch and Austrian flags. The stamps also feature the national flowers of the respective countries, with tulips and edelweiss in the background on the PostNL and PostAG stamps.

PostAG and PostNL Crypto Stamps on display at the RAI conference center in Amsterdam.

The physical stamps are produced by Austrian firm Varius Card, whose CEO, Michael Dorner, unpacked the latest security features in a conversation with Cointelegraph. The fourth edition of Crypto Stamps has invisible ultraviolet rays and forensic security. The NFC chips also provide cryptographic proof of a given stamp’s authenticity.

Dorner also admired recent conversations he had with older generation Austrians who were avid stamp users who were introduced to NFTs through PostAG’s crypto stamps. Unfamiliar with the digital collectibles, some grandparents inevitably asked their grandchildren to help them obtain the digital twin of their stamps in the real world.

“They called their grandchildren and said, ‘Do you know what an NFT is?’ And the grandson says, ‘Yeah, what do you have?’ Suddenly they sat down together for dinner, they checked the crypto stamps, and the kids said: Grandpa, let’s check what color you are.”

All three individuals believe that the NFT-paired stamps are leading to a philatelic renaissance, with Dorner describing the shift as the next generation of collectors:

“Two generations with two completely different aspects come together and they talk. And you have this new community, you have this ‘collectors 3.0’. Like the young collectors, we all suddenly became interested in stamps again.”

These positive sentiments are also supported by the popularity of each launch, with Dorner and Liebermann highlighting that all previous NFT-paired collections sold out completely.

Dorner estimated that 150,000 to 250,000 stamps with NFT pairs had been sold since 2019, suggesting that the initiative may be one of the most successful NFT projects in the world. The latest issue of Crypto Stamps is minted on the Polygon blockchain.