In a first, Tamil Nadu issues NFT as ‘digital medals’ to outstanding policemen
In a first-of-its-kind for a government department in India, the Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu Police Department issued ‘Soulbound Tokens’ to its outstanding team members.
The Tamil Nadu Police partnered with GuardianLink, a Chennai and Singapore-based non-fungible token (NFT) start-up for this. The tokens were issued by K Jayanth Murali IPS, Director General of Police, Idol Wing CID, Tamil Nadu.
DSP Muthuraja, DSP Mohan, SSI Ramalingam, HC Reagan and Grade 1 Laxmikant were the officers who received the award. “These Idol Wing CID officers conducted exhaustive investigations, leading to retrieval of invaluable artefacts of our heritage and culture,” said a press release.
Arjun Reddy, Co-Founder of GuardianLink, said the DGP is working with the company to launch a volunteer organisation called ‘Friends of Culture’ to increase youth participation in heritage preservation alongside Idol Wing CID and also enable them to earn Soulbound Tokens as tokens of appreciation for their efforts.
What is a Soulbound Token?
GuardianLink said the Tamil Nadu government is the first in the world to utilise the Soulbound Token (a variation of NFT) concept as a ‘digital medal’.
It added Soulbound Tokens are a unique blockchain asset that cannot be bought, sold, or even moved to another blockchain wallet.
“Government organisations should show the same vigour in adopting breakthrough technology for good as much as for the antisocial elements, so as to understand and protect our citizens from harm. This is why Tamil Nadu government has always been at the forefront of new tech usage,” said Murali.
NFTs are digital assets created using the same type of programming used for cryptocurrencies. They are records of ownership of unique digital assets and since these tokens are ‘non-fungible’, they cannot be exchanged or traded like other cryptographic assets.
Published on December 1, 2022
