Telegram today announced it will hold an auction for usernames. This is done through a marketplace built on top, for both individual accounts and channels. TON Blockchain.
In August, Telegram founder Pavel Durov first mentioned the idea by pointing out the possibility of adding “a bit of Web 3.0 to Telegram in the coming weeks.” At the time, he said he was impressed by the success of his TON Foundation domain name auction.
“I am really impressed with the recent success of domain/wallet name auctions conducted by TON. Wallet.ton sold for 215,250 toncoins (~$260000) and casino.ton sold for ~$244000.
If TON can achieve these results, imagine how successful Telegram, with its 700 million users, would be if it auctioned reserved @usernames, groups and channel links,” he said. Told. The company is now putting this plan into action.
Telegram and TON Foundation use separate websites Fragment.com as a hub for these auctions. User can use her Telegram to login to the site. ton keeper app, or its TON-based wallet. This website also helps users to link the Telegram account to the handle where they purchased it.
At launch, the chat app will be auctioning off a 4- or 5-character handle that anyone can use. Telegram users can also put their existing handles up for auction. Each handle put up for auction ends in his week, with final bidding taking an additional hour. The company has set a minimum auction price for his handle of 4 characters at his 10,000 tonne coin.
“For the first time, social media users will be able to transparently prove they own a handle thanks to tokenization on the TON blockchain,” said Andrew Rogozov, founding member of the TON Foundation. says.
Telegram had big ambitions in the web3 world, but had to abandon them. In 2018, the company has plans to: Telegram Open Network (TON) Blockchain Project and initial coin offerings (ICOs). The project was backed by renowned investors such as Benchmark and Lightspeed Capital. invested $1.7 billionHowever, after a legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Telegram was forced to abandon the project.
After Telegram stopped developing TON, various independent groups continued development. Toncoin, backed by Durov, acquired the rights to the ton.org website in 2021.However, Telegram’s founders are trying to distance themselves from their direct involvement in the project.
Telegram has tried different ways to make money in order to keep the company sustainable.introduced last year Advertising spots on public channelsEarlier this year, the company introduced Paid plan It allows the transfer of large files, dedicated stickers and reactions, and the ability to convert voice messages to text. The new announcement of username auctions on the blockchain is another step towards getting more moolah into the bank.
