Austria Post Launches ‘Crypto Stamp’ Collectibles on the Ethereum Blockchain – CCN Markets

By CCN Markets: Stamp collecting just entered the 21st century, as the Austrian Post Office unveiled its limited edition ‘crypto stamp’ collectibles, powered by the Ethereum blockchain.

Send Your Stamp, Keep A Collectible Crypto Stamp

A limited 150,000 unit run of five different stamps – black, red, blue, yellow, black – allows the owner to use a physical stamp, but then save its image in their wallet. According to a Reddit user, the distribution is as follows: 1,500 red stamps; yellow, 10,000; blue, 20,000; green, 40,000; black, 78,500. The stamps retail for 6.90 Euro, meaning the entire project will bring in just over $1 million.

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The collectibles will be stored on Ethereum’s public blockchain. | Source: Shutterstock

The “Crypto Stamp” is the first use case for non-fungible tokens launched by a government so far, making it a milestone. The pilot’s success will help determine the future for NFTs, which can now be issued across multiple Ethereum token standards.

Recently completed ERC-1155 enables developers to issue vastly cheaper fungible and non-fungible tokens. The stamps use Ethereum’s first NFT standard, ERC-721. Invented by Enjin’s Witek Radomski, ERC-1155 can best be described as a hybrid of ERC-20 and ERC-721. The standard was important for Enjin, who facilitate a gaming marketplace and development tools for people looking to build games on the Ethereum blockchain. EnjinCoin recently pumped when it was announced as a Samsung partner.

How Blockchain Will Invade Everyday Life

Austria’s crypto stamp is but a first glimpse at the future of digital property. The use case is relatively novel compared to the types of things you can do with your blockchain wallet in the future. One day it will be possible to prove ownership of a car or a right to a rental of any kind.

Or perhaps the most common use will be paying tolls and transit fares.

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The applications of blockchain technology in society and beyond is endless. | Source: Shutterstock

The possibilities are endless. But the blockchain wouldn’t be nearly as interesting if it were merely one more paper-generating layer on the gears of our commerce system. Instead, blockchain offers the ability for people to retain permanent receipts. The need for multiple wallets will make itself evident when people are shuffling thousands of on-chain tokens instead of papers. The upside is clear: you’ll never lose your birth certificate again.

It’s not much of an opinion to say that blockchain will change multiple aspects of life. The grinding pace of technological evolution makes that pretty much inevitable.

Multiple, Varying Blockchains

The question is how it will all work. Most likely, no single blockchain can handle everything the world will have to throw at it. Public, permissionless blockchains require significant resources to secure and run. Anyone with a few dollars can store whatever they want, permanently. Therefore the most likely future involves multiple blockchains, with many people using wallets that enable them to connect to all the most popular ones.

Some corporations might blockchain with a product like Aelf or NEO, for example, while public service outfits will use more “popular” options like Ethereum and EOS. For organizations, the decision will factor in heavily whether or not the users find the project easy enough to use.

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