Messaging platform Telegram may soon launch a TON-based platform for trading usernames, channel links, stickers, and more.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov said on his channel that the team is preparing to “add a little bit of Web 3.0” to the messenger. Specifically, the point is to create a trading platform for selling usernames on Telegram.
According to Durov, the auction of “catchy t.me addresses” could use “NFT-like smart contracts.” Registered usernames like @royal, @storm, and all four-letter names like @club, @game, @gift, etc., could be put up for sale.
Durov also added that apart from usernames, other elements of Telegram’s ecosystem (emojis, stickers, or even channels) could be sold on such a marketplace.
The idea of creating a Telegram-based service came shortly after the success of The Open Network (TON) domain auction, which Durov highly appreciated. Telegram founder suggested that messenger developers could use “similar technology” to deploy a new market that would use transactions “with ownership secured on the blockchain via NFT-like smart contracts.” Durov says the TON blockchain could be the basis for the marketplace, as the FunC smart contract programming language was developed by the Telegram team.
To recall, the TON blockchain was initially created by Telegram developers as a digital payment platform for the messenger and was called the Telegram Open Network. In 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Telegram of conducting illegal ICOs. Therefore, Telegram was forced to disassociate itself from TON in 2020, turning it into an independent blockchain project and changing the name to The Open Network. It kept its previous abbreviation and continued to operate under community management. For example, TON helped a number of African nations with various cryptocurrency projects in April this year.
