Visual revealed: dragon to star on the first Belgian crypto stamp

bpost has joined forces with the Austrian, Dutch and Luxembourg postal services in a unique partnership for the issue of this special stamp. The four nations agreed to use a dragon as visual. Dragons are mythological creatures that are common in European literature. 2024 is also the Year of the Dragon in Chinese astrology, in which dragons are symbols of prosperity and good fortune. The physical stamp has a special foil that brings the dragon to life with a gleaming rainbow effect. The eye is also reflective, which gives the stamp extra cachet.

A rare 'red' dragon

The physical crypto stamps all look the same on the outside, with the same dragon featured on each one. The digital twin, on the other hand, comes in different versions. You only see which version you have when you activate the digital twin online. There are five different colours of the Belgian dragon to collect, some rarer than others. Spoiler alert: anyone who gets a red dragon can count themselves very lucky, because just one in every hundred stamps comes with this digital illustration.

The breakdown of the crypto dragons is as follows:

• Black: 52.3%
• Green: 26.7%
• Blue: 13.3%
• Yellow: 6.7%
• Red: 1%

💡What is a crypto stamp?
​A crypto stamp is a postage stamp comprising two parts. There is a regular physical stamp with franking value (3) WORLD. And then there’s a ‘digital twin’. This second version does not exist in physical form. You cannot affix it to anything. You can activate this digital twin online to start a digital collection. bpost issues its first-ever crypto stamp this year.

“Four nations join forces”
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​The dragon illustration is by Austrian designer Lisa Filzi. “I drew the contours of the various dragons based on my mood boards,” Lisa explains. “It was very important to me that each card* could exist in its own right, but I also wanted the four issues of the different countries to complement each other. The dragons are so bright that I opted for a darker background with smoke."
​(*The crypto stamp comes in a placeholder 'card'.)

🛒 Order yours from 16 October
​Early birds can order their crypto stamps from 16 October 2024 when the advance sale opens at the bpost eShop. They cost €9 each for one or €8.64 each on orders of two or more stamps (postage value '3 World'). Starting from 21 October the crypto stamp will also be available to buy in the bpost Philaboutiques:
​- Brussels Philaboutique: Monday, Tuesday and Friday between 09:30 and 12:30 and between 13:30 and 17:00.
​- Mechelen Philaboutique: 24 October only, between 10:00 and 12:30.