Pos Indonesia, Indonesia’s national postal service, has introduced its first stamps with a unique non-fungible token (NFT) counterpart. With this innovative move, the company combines classic stamp collecting with modern blockchain technology. The launch was announced via Pos Indonesia’s official Instagram page.
First NFT stamp: “Cenderawasih”
The debut stamp bears the theme “Cenderawasih”, the Indonesian name for the bird of paradise. This stamp will be available in both a physical and digital NFT version. In addition, Pos Indonesia is releasing the stamp in a special booklet, which will appeal to both collectors and technology enthusiasts.
Indonesia embraces Web3 technology
This launch reflects Indonesia’s growing involvement in Web3 technologies and blockchain innovations. In March 2023, Indonesian financial authorities announced their intention to establish a regulatory sandbox for crypto assets in early 2025, with the aim of preventing fraud in the crypto sector.
NFT market sees global decline
The introduction of NFT stamps comes at a time when global interest in NFTs is waning. In September 2023, NFT sales hit a record low of $296 million, which was a 20% decline from August and an impressive 81% decline from the peak of $1.6 billion in March 2023. Also, the number of NFT transactions decreased, with a drop of 32% from August to September.
Blockchain and stamps: a global trend
Although interest in NFTs is declining, Pos Indonesia is betting on the combination of tradition and technology, just as postal services in other countries did before. In 2021 and 2022, organizations in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Austria and the Netherlands already launched NFT stamps to revive interest in stamp collecting.
An example of this is the UAE, which released a stamp with one gram of gold and an accompanying NFT version in June 2022 to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Pos Indonesia is now joining this global trend and moving towards digital collectibles.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/pos-indonesia-lanceert-eerste-nft-postzegels-traditie-ontmoet-blockchaintechnologie/
