Wacken Wallet 2023 – Wacken Open Air

First German crypto stamp, co-branded with the festival. Polygon ERC-721.

The Wacken Wallet 2023 was the first German crypto stamp and first co-branded crypto stamp between a postal operator and music festival. Issued by NordBrief on 14 July 2023 as a limited special edition of 50,000 copies at EUR 11.99. The physical stamp with NFC chip and QR code was paired with a digital twin as an NFT collector card on Polygon. Technical production by Variuscard/VariusSystems (Vienna). A portion of proceeds went to the Wacken Foundation supporting hard and heavy metal music.

History

On 14 July 2023, NordBrief issued Germany's first crypto stamp in collaboration with the Wacken Open Air festival. The release preceded Deutsche Post's Brandenburg Gate crypto stamp by four months (2 November 2023) and marked the first co-branded postal-festival crypto stamp globally.

Technical Specifications

The product comprised a wallet set rather than a single stamp:

Physical self-adhesive stamp with NFC chip
Digital collector card with QR code
Wacken-branded wallet sleeve packaging

Scanning the QR code unlocked an NFT on the Polygon blockchain (ERC-721 standard), compatible with OpenSea and other Polygon platforms. Variuscard GmbH (Vienna) handled printing and the Variuscard/Stampfinity technology stack.

Distribution

Total mintage: 50,000 units at EUR 11.99 per wallet. A portion of proceeds supported the Wacken Foundation, funding programs including Lautstark gegen Krebs, Wacken Metal Battle, Wacken Metal Camp, and Wacken Music Academy.

Content Delivery Issues

The digital bonus content (festival video) was delivered eight months after release in spring 2024. Until December 2023, scanning displayed only placeholder text. NordBrief and Variuscard depended on content from W:O:A Festival GmbH, demonstrating risks in crypto stamps with delayed-content models.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why NordBrief and not Deutsche Post?

NordBrief is a private postal service provider in Schleswig-Holstein and was the exclusive Wacken stamp partner in 2023. Deutsche Post only followed on 02.11.2023 with the Brandenburg Gate crypto stamp.