German intelligence service unveils dog-themed NFTs, aims to attract skilled cybersecurity personnel

Germany's federal intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), has initiated a creative approach to recruit cybersecurity experts by launching a series of dog-themed nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The NFT collection, named "Dogs of BND," consists of 999 unique tokens inspired by BND's guard and security dogs, representing various intelligence roles within the agency.

As part of the recruitment process, the BND has organised an on-chain treasure hunt, where interested candidates with cyber talent must locate a specific character string posted on Instagram. This character string will lead them to an Ethereum address, granting them access to the NFT collection and the opportunity to mint their own NFT.

Kann mir bitte jemand sagen dass diese rohrkrepierende NFT-Kollektion des BND namens "Dogs of BND" nicht aus Steuergeldern finanziert wurde? pic.twitter.com/VTRM8m62pa

— Quentin Lichtblau | @lichtblauq@det.social (@LichtblauQ) June 21, 2023

Image shared by a Twitter user taken from BND’s Instagram, asking whether NFTs are taxpayer-funded

BND’s dog-themed NFT challenge to allure cybersecurity talent

To attract cybersecurity talent, the BND engaged in an interview with German crypto outlet BTC-Echo on 19 June, revealing their creation of the "Dogs of BND" NFT collection and associated challenges. The said NFT collection consists of generative dog-themed profile pictures (PFPs) donning cyber security-themed wearables.

While most of the collection's 999 NFTs were made available, twelve tokens were kept for more intricate challenges. BTC-Echo, German crypto outlet, also reported the agency's consideration of a smart contract hacking challenge. As the collection gained attention, the NFTs experienced a surge in floor price and trading volumes.

Within two days, the floor price escalated from 0.000001 ETH to 0.052 ETH (approximately $100). However, despite the value increase, liquidity remains relatively low, with only around 20 NFTs estimated to have been sold based on a total volume of approximately 1 ETH.