The Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the German intelligence agency, has recently initiated a unique recruitment drive by launching an NFT collection called Dogs of BND. The aim of this campaign is to attract individuals proficient in blockchain and web3 technology. To engage potential candidates, the agency has gamified the process by introducing a “cyber treasure hunt” to unlock access to the collection. Participation in this treasure hunt is open to German citizens above the age of 13, and they are encouraged to join through the agency’s Instagram community.
To mint an NFT from the Dogs of BND collection, participants must actively take part in the treasure hunt and locate a hidden string of characters provided by the BND. The agency’s website states that this string could be a wallet address, transaction hash, block, or token number. Players are required to conduct research and investigate to uncover the correct data, which will provide them with valuable clues and eventually grant them access to the collection.
The BND believes that NFTs are a fitting choice for seeking cybersecurity talent within the web3 space, and they have the additional advantage of serving as collectibles for community members, as reported by German crypto news outlet BTC Echo. The Dogs of BND collection features various dog characters in the traditional NFT style. The collection consists of 999 individual NFTs, although only 987 can be minted by players who successfully gain access to the collection.
Each NFT was initially launched with a symbolic floor price of 0.000001 ETH (Ethereum) and will remain available until all 987 pieces are minted, according to the website. At the time of writing, the floor price of the NFTs had risen to 0.06 ETH.
It is worth noting that the collection was built on the Ethereum blockchain using the ERC-1155 standard. However, some members of the crypto community have criticized this choice, considering the ERC-1155 standard outdated. Additionally, the community has expressed concerns about the collection’s computer-generated artwork, citing its simplistic nature.
