The Editor-in-Chief of StampEd, Susanna Mills, reached out and asked me if I wanted to contribute to the magazine again, and I enthusiastically said a big yes.
The topic we had decided on was non-fungible token (NFT) stamps, and I have to admit, it took me a long time to even gather the most basic understanding of the blockchain and NFTs and an even longer time to figure out how to explain it to those who don’t have a technical background. Throughout my research, however, I was lucky to have so many people patiently sit with me and answer my incessant questions. Susanna also helped me disseminate a short survey to those who follow both StampEd and the American Philatelic Society. I was overwhelmed (in a good way!) to receive over 200 responses from every continent except Antarctica! Thank you all for your help and support!
I tried to present all the information in my article in a neutral way, looking at both the pros and cons of crypto stamps (physical stamps that have an electronic NFT component; hence the title). I was also lucky enough to be able to do a short informal online talk with Susanna and StampEd at Virtual StampEx, conversing about this article as well as my earlier article on thermochromic stamps. It was fun interacting with Susanna and the attendees of the talk (I also nerded out to the other talks and presentations during the conference)! I still don’t know if I was able to adequately explain everything about these stamps, but I hope you nevertheless enjoy reading my article. Let me know your thoughts!