The messaging service Telegram will soon introduce a platform for username auctions which may also include other Telegram ecosystem components like channels, stickers, or emojis.
Telegram announced on Thursday that the messaging app would soon introduce a username auction mechanism on The Open Network (TON) blockchain.
Pavel Durov, the creator of Telegram, first announced the concept in August, citing the success of a recent TON auction for their wallet usernames as motivation. A few of them, like “casino.ton,” went for more than $200,000.
“If TON has been able to achieve these results, imagine how successful Telegram with its 700 million users could be if we put reserved @ usernames, group and channel links for auction,” he said.
Durov, however, isn’t done yet.
“Other elements of the Telegram ecosystem, including channels, stickers or emoji, could later also become part of this marketplace,” he added.
Buying usernames is nothing new. According to Non Fungible’s market tracker, over 500,000 users have paid for usernames on Ethereum using the Ethereum Name Service (ENS).
Additionally, it is not simply a web3 phenomenon. On websites like Twitter and Instagram, it’s getting more and more difficult to gain the desired username, thus some users are going to tremendous measures to get them. Online advice includes everything from complex copyright strategies to requesting that sites redistribute unused accounts.
Some people go even further. Some services will even hack the original owner to gain social media handles.
In 2018, the business started investigating blockchain-based solutions and developing what was then known as the Telegram Open Network. Later that year, it sold TON tokens in a private transaction for $1.7 billion.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Telegram in October 2019 after accusing it of conducting an unregistered securities offering. Under pressure from authorities, the messaging app gave up on the project in 2020.
The project was still being worked on by open-source programmers. It changed its name to The Open Network in 2022 and launched a live, fully functional mainnet.
