Switzerland to launch its first crypto stamp
Swiss Post said the stamp will bridge the divide between the physical and digital worlds
The national postal service of Switzerland, Swiss Post, has announced it’s to launch the country’s first crypto stamp.
The Swiss Crypto Stamp will be unveiled on 25 November. It will consist of two parts, one being a physical stamp worth 8.9 Swiss francs, the second being a digital image linked to the physical stamp, stored on a blockchain that will display one of 13 possible images.
The physical stamp depicts the Matterhorn mountain, which lies on the border between Switzerland and Italy, and the moon on a blue background.
The Swiss Post said the crypto stamp “is bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds”.
The crypto stamps can be “collected, exchanged and traded online”
The Swiss Crypto Stamp is designed to appeal to collectors, with the idea they can be exchanged and traded in an online environment. When customers buy the stamp, they won't know which of the 13 digital designs is linked to it. The design is only revealed when the buyer goes online. The crypto stamp is accessed via a QR code, which is printed next to the physical stamp.
The digital designs will be split into common and rare categories. There will be 65,000 copies of the more common digital design, but only 50 of the rare ones.
A crypto-related week for Switzerland
The announcement follows on from yesterday’s (29 September) news that Switzerland's financial regulator, the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), has approved the country’s first ever crypto asset fund.
The Crypto Market Index Fund has been launched by Swiss asset manager Crypto Finance and is administered by investment management firm PvB Pernet von Ballmoos AG, with custody by Swiss SEBA Bank.
It is a passive fund that tracks the Crypto Market Index 10, which is administered by the SIX Swiss Exchange.
The fund is restricted to institutional investors, such as Swiss wealth management banks, asset managers, pension funds and other professional investors.
