“Freedom in a wallet” is how European Parliament Member Stefan Berger describes the non-fungible token (NFT) he is now selling in the Opensea. The NFT represents a pair of ‘Bergoletten’ slides. “The shoes symbolize the first step in every development,” says Berger. Berger invested efforts in making sure Europe’s upcoming crypto legislation gets the backing of his colleagues.
European legislator auctions NFT slide in Opensea
Stefan Berger, the European Parliamentarian tasked with facilitating the progress of the EU’s crypto asset markets regulatory package (MiCA). He has devised a summer initiative to promote tokenization. Tokenization is something “as innovative for the world as the introduction of the stock market was in the 17th century.”
In late July, a member of the conservative European People’s Party group urged his followers on Twitter to join an auction on the NFT Opensea market. “My NFT is out now,” Berger announced in a post about the sale that ends Monday, Aug. 15. “To me, this NFT is a piece of digital freedom in a wallet,” he wrote in the tweet.
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The Bergoletten NFT, which he claims to have designed, depicts a photo of a pair of men’s slides, one of which is branded “#bergo” and the other as “clothing.” Bergolettes are the optimal summer gadget chosen as an NFT motif. A very great development starts with a first step. The seller explains on his website, promises to spend the profits on the promotion of swimming and elaborates:
“What was tradable yesterday is tokenized on the blockchain today. Yesterday, you wore bathing shoes on your feet, today you carry them in your wallet, in the form of this NFT.”
EU considers the treatment of NFTs under MiCA regulations
Stefan Berger’s NFT trick came after a significant breakthrough. A breakthrough toward the adoption of pan-European crypto regulations. In early July, the key players in the Union’s complex legislative process – Parliament, Council, and Commission. They reached an agreement to implement MiCA in the 27-member bloc.
Berger played a role in the decision to abandon a controversial proposal to ban the provision of services for coins. Those will ban relying on the draft’s energy-hungry proof-of-work (PoW) mining algorithm. The texts have amounted to an effective ban on cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. It requires a lot of electrical energy, provoking negative reactions from the continent’s crypto space.
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The deal did not cover NFTs, “except if they fall within existing categories of crypto assets,” officials in Brussels stated at the time. European institutions now have to decide whether separate regulations are needed for tokens. This type of crypto asset, also known as “digital collectibles,” has several applications. These applications include storing digital records on a blockchain. Application proving the authenticity and ownership of works of art, for example.
A recent statement was made by Peter Kerstens. Peter Kerstens is the European Commission’s advisor on technological innovation and cybersecurity policy. EU lawmakers “have a very narrow view of what an NFT is.” Quoted by CoinDesk a few days ago, it suggested that many NFTs will be treated like other digital currencies.
Speaking during Korea Blockchain Week, Kerstens explained that if a token issue is as a collection or as a series the issuer may call it NFT and each token in that series may be unique. European regulators will not consider it a non-fungible token. This means that the requirements for cryptocurrencies will also apply to NFTs.
