Thanks to its new feature, Telegram invites its users to buy “virtual gifts” for their friends in order to celebrate an event. In the coming weeks, these offerings may even be converted into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) based on the TON blockchain.
Telegram announces the upcoming arrival of a feature allowing you to convert gifts into NFT
This weekend, Telegram unveiled its new feature called “Gifts”. This allows users of the instant messaging platform to purchase personalized messages or animated artwork which you can send to your contacts.
These animated images and other personalized messages will be displayed in a dedicated tab present in the profile of the user concerned. Please note that the recipients can decide to sell their gifts in exchange for a virtual currency called Telegram Starsits payment system launched earlier this year.
💡 Discover the TON blockchain, the network designed for the Telegram application
Following this announcement, Pavel Durov, the CEO of the messaging service, announced on its own Telegram channel the upcoming launch of a new feature based on gifts. Concretely, users of the social network will be able to convert their gifts into non-fungible tokens (NFT) based on The Open Network (TON) blockchain.
Currently, it is not possible to convert these gifts into NFTs. However, Pavel Durov provided some clarifications on this conversion functionality which should see the light of day by the end of the year. Once transformed into an NFT on the TON blockchain, these limited edition gifts can be used outside of Telegram:
Users will then be able to auction and trade these gifts as NFTs outside of Telegram, with ownership registered on the TON blockchain. […] This innovative functionality aims to improve the user experience with gifts within the Telegram communityadding a unique and festive way to celebrate special occasions.
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Telegram comes to support the NFT market, which has been losing momentum for several months
The arrival by the end of the year of this functionality around NFTs seems to be a way for Telegram to support this declining sector. Last month, the overall NFT market reached its lowest monthly sales volume since January 2021.
In total, NFTs recorded monthly sales volume of $296 million in September. A figure down 81% compared to that of March which was until then the lowest monthly sales volume of the year 2024.
👉 Also read – Telegram can reveal the IP addresses and phone numbers of its users since 2018, according to its CEO Pavel Durov
In addition to the decline in sales volume, transactions involving digital collectibles were down 32% month-over-month. Thus, transactions fell from 7.3 million to only 4.9 million between August and September.
In addition to Telegram, Hamster Kombat, the game based on the TON blockchain, was announced at the end of September that it would integrate NFTs as assets in its tap-to-earn during November.
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Source: Telegram
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Surprised by the rise of crypto-assets at the end of the 2010s, I began to closely follow this sector which fascinates me to the greatest extent. When I'm not in football stadiums, rugby stadiums or handball halls, I work on writing relevant articles around cryptocurrencies and more broadly, Web3.
Zacharie Tazrout
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