“Freedom in a wallet” is how Member of European Parliament Stefan Berger describes the non-fungible token (NFT) he is now selling on Opensea. The NFT represents a pair of ‘Bergoletten’ slides. Shoes symbolize the first step in every development, says Berger who invested efforts in making sure Europe’s upcoming crypto legislation gets the backing of his colleagues.
European Lawmaker Auctions NFT Slides at Opensea
Stefan Berger, the German member of the European Parliament (MEP) who was tasked to facilitate the progress of EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory package, has come up with a summer initiative to promote tokenization, something “as groundbreaking for the world as the introduction of the stock market was in the 17th century.”
In late July, the member of the group of the conservative European People’s Party urged his followers on Twitter to join an auction on the NFT marketplace Opensea. “My NFT is out now,” Berger announced in a post about the sale which ends on Monday, Aug. 15. “For me, this NFT is a piece of digital freedom in a wallet,” he wrote in the tweet.
The Bergoletten NFT, which he claims to have designed, represents a photo of a pair of men’s slides, one of which is branded “#bergo” and the other one – “ropa.” The Bergolettes are the optimal summer gadget and were chosen as NFT-motif because every great development begins with a first step, the seller explains on his website, vows to spend the proceeds on swimming promotion, and elaborates:
Yesterday’s tradeable commodity is now tokenized by the blockchain. Yesterday, you wore bathing shoes on your feet, today you carry them in your wallet – in the form of this NFT.
EU Treats NFTs under MiCA Regulations in a Mulle
Stefan Berger’s NFT stunt came after a significant advance towards the adoption of the pan-European crypto regulations. In early July, the key participants in the Union’s complex legislative process – the Parliament, Council, and Commission – made a deal to implement MiCA across the 27-strong bloc.
Berger had a part in the controversial decision to scrap a proposal prohibiting the provision services for coins that depend on the energy-hungry Proof-of-work (PoW), mine algorithm. The texts, which would have amounted to an effective ban on cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, the minting of which requires a lot of electrical energy, sparked negative reactions from the continent’s crypto space.
The agreement did not cover NFTs, “except if they fall under existing crypto-asset categories,” officials in Brussels stated at the time. The European institutions will now decide whether separate regulations for tokens are necessary. This type of crypto assets, also referred to as ‘digital collectibles,’ have various applications, including to store digital records on a blockchain and prove authenticity and ownership of artwork, for example.
According to a recent statement by Peter Kerstens, adviser to the European Commission on technological innovation and cybersecurity policy, EU legislators “take a very narrow view of what is an NFT.” Quoted by Coindesk a few days ago, he suggested that many NFTs will be treated just like other digital currencies.
Kerstens explained that European regulators would not accept a token that is issued in collections or series. Each token may also be unique and may even be called an NFT. The same requirements that apply to cryptocurrencies for NFTs will also be applied.
Which future are you looking for non-fungible tokens within the European Union? Comment below to share your views.
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