Using non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the German Federal Intelligence Service Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) has begun attracting cyber and blockchain talent. To help recruit qualified employees, the BND has posted nearly 1,000 NFTs with a dog motif on the Ethereum blockchain alongside an on-chain treasure hunt.
With the rise in interest in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in recent years, this move represents a strategic effort on the part of the company. This is to attract the most skilled cybersecurity talent available. A dog-themed collection from BND, the "Dogs of BND" collection, is a collection of traditional NFTs showing a variety of canine characters with unique personalities. Among the 999 pieces in the collection, 987 of the NFTs can be minted by individuals who succeed in the treasure hunt and are successful in collecting the coins.
A string of hidden characters embedded by the German Defense Agency (BND) must be unraveled by prospective participants who are 13 years or older and German citizens. Research and tracking are required to identify this string, which can be a wallet address, transaction hash, block, or token number. This will uncover valuable clues that will enable the holder of the NFT collection to obtain access to the collection.
According to the agency's website, each NFT was initially offered at a symbolic floor price of 0.000001 ETH (Ethereum) and has the opportunity to be acquired until all 987 pieces have been minted, which ensures that everyone can access the NFT program, regardless of their financial situation.
On OpenSea, the floor price for NFTs has risen from 0.012 ETH to 0.05 ETH at the time of this report. This indicates a large spike in price. Digital tokens represent a specific agent and each token includes details about the specific skill sets the Bureau of National Statistics is seeking from the candidate.
The collection consists of 999 generative avatar images depicting dogs of varying characteristics who are inspired by the agency's Pullach branch service dogs, Inka and Alex. PFP has many standard characteristics, including background colors, clothing, eye-gear, headgear, and hairstyles, among several others.
Even though the collection has been fully minted on the Ethereum blockchain, users will be able to acquire the pieces within it. This is done by taking part in a cryptographic treasure hunt that requires their participation. Cybersecurity is a field in which problem-solving skills are crucial. Therefore, this program aims to stimulate those skills in students.
The BND's website states that the NFTs are only able to be collected by locating a special character string that is placed on Instagram and then searching through it. An Ethereum address can be represented by this character string. An individual with this knowledge would be qualified to mint an NFT to locate the collection and obtain the collection.
There have been accusations of misleading statements about exchange assets made by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Binance, Binance.US, and the company's CEO Changpeng Zhao against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to their filing in court on June 21, 2023, the SEC made misleading statements in a news release published on June 17. This led to the following lawsuit. According to them, it is their responsibility to adhere to the rules of conduct.
CZ and Binance are alleged to have been able to commingle or divert customer assets between each other because of the motion filed in response to the SEC's claim. According to a transcript of the court proceedings, there was contradictory evidence to support this claim. There was no evidence of misappropriation or dissipation of customer assets in the filing that was submitted by Binance Holdings Limited, Zhao, and Binance's legal teams.
A second concern was raised in the statement, which was that the SEC's press release might confuse the market and harm Binance.US customers by presenting misleading descriptions of the evidence and potentially influencing the jury pool as well.
Guests of the German agency's website can find details of the collection on its website. Those hunters are supposed to find a string of characters (in this case, an address of a wallet, the hash of a transaction, the block or token number) hidden as a clue by the agency. The user has access to all the coins in the collection as soon as they find the correct data.
It is estimated that it would cost less than a cent to mint NFTs (excluding gas fees), yet the floor price of the collection on OpenSea, the secondary market, is currently 0.045 Ethereum, or about $82. The collection contains 999 NFTs, but only 987 NFTs can be minted by players throughout this year. Upon the creation of all 987 tokens, the treasure hunt will be over and the hunt will have come to an end.
There is a treasure hunt taking place spearheaded by the German cryptocurrency publication, BTC Echo. This treasure hunt is designed to identify young talent fluent in blockchain technology to combat cybercrime.
In addition to the Facebook post, it is also tapping its Instagram following to advertise NFTs, hoping to attract the attention of social media-savvy consumers.
What Constitutes a Sensible Recruiting Strategy for Web3?
Increasing the reach of BND's talent acquisition initiative goes beyond just targeting young professionals fluent in these areas as well. The intelligence agency also uses social media platforms to interact with followers and recruit recruits.
As reported by BTC Echo, a German cryptocurrency publication, the move indicates the company's commitment to adjusting to the evolving digital landscape and ensuring that it complies with the requirements of cybersecurity. The BND told the outlet: "An NFT collection was an obvious new offering for our Instagram community[...] a lot of consideration is given to blockchain technology, the associated cryptocurrencies, and the use of non-fungible tokens in various areas within the BND."
There is no doubt that in this day and age of increasing cyber threats, it is imperative to recruit competent and experienced individuals to counter such attacks. It is precisely for this reason that federal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. have recently stepped up efforts to establish a task force investigating darknet markets and crimes related to digital currencies.
As a result of its unique recruitment strategy, BND appears to be seeking to become more than just a criminal law enforcement organization. Instead, it wants to become a company engaged in the pursuit of a forward-thinking workforce that is capable of taking on the new challenges in the digital world of the future. This initiative has served as proof that, despite the overwhelming tide of technological change that sweeps the globe, even intelligence agencies aren't immune to the effects of such a sweeping tide, irrespective of the region in which they operate.
