The Evening Standard said on May 5 that it is releasing a series of free non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to commemorate the coronation of King Charles.
NFT features animated St. Edward’s Crown
The collectible NFT includes an animated copy of “The Oath” by Trevor Jones. This painting features St. Edward’s Crown, the centerpiece of the UK’s Crown Jewels.
The non-fungible token is currently available for free on the Nifty Gateway marketplace. Users only need to provide an email address to register and collect the item, though it is unclear whether users need to pay a transaction fee to receive the item.
The NFT is “open edition,” meaning that there is no limit on the number of NFTs that can be minted. Users have minted 9,200 copies of the NFT as of 11:30 p.m. UTC on May 5.
Though there is no limit on the number of minted NFTs, there is a time limit. Users can only mint the token between Thursday, May 4 and Sunday, May 7.
The event represents a move into crypto from a major UK company. The Evening Standard was the UK’s fourth largest daily paper by circulation in 2020 following The Metro, The Sun, and The Daily Mail. It circulated over 314,000 papers per day in January 2023.
The state of crypto in Britain
The UK government previously announced its desire for the country to become a “crypto hub” in April 2022. This originally included plans for the Royal Mint to issue its own NFT, though those plans were ultimately dropped in March 2023.
The UK has more recently announced plans to create post-Brexit crypto regulation and currently has strict regulations from The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA has recently cracked down on unregistered crypto ATMs and non-compliant advertising, and the agency has even targeted specific crypto companies such as Binance.
Statista suggests that the UK crypto industry could see $1.89 billion in revenue in 2023.
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