Telegram Lands Over $50M From Sales of Catchy Usernames on TON

Messaging platform Telegram which is making attempts to offer non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchange (DEX) after the implosion of FTX, has announced the sales of usernames worth around $50 million on The Open Network (TON) blockchain. Markedly, this is just only one month after users of the platform were given the ability to buy usernames on the Telegram app.

In October, Pavel Durov, founder of the messaging app reiterated that it is over 700 million users will be able to transfer their unique user names to interested entities in a protected deal using Non-fungible tokens (NFT)-like smart contracts. In other words, Telegram users can trade catchy usernames on the TON blockchain. Most of the auctioned usernames were either four or five-letter handles. 

The sales were commissioned on a blockchain-based platform known as Fragment. Once an interested buyer gets the available usernames, he automatically secures their ownership on its TON.

To perform the transaction, the user must pay in the Toncoin cryptocurrency which is the native token of the platform. So far, more than $50 million worth of such sales have been initiated on Fragment in the last month. 

“Fragment has been an amazing success, with 50 million USD worth of usernames sold there in less than a month. This week, Fragment will expand beyond usernames,” the CEO announced.

Moreso, some handles have generated a large percentage of funds for the platform. According to information from the Telegram official website, one particular username identified as @news was auctioned for 994,000 TON, which is approximately $1.7 million.  

Telegram Plans to Onboard Decentralized Alternatives 

In the near future, Telegram plans to do more in terms of decentralization especially, after all that has befallen FTX. The entire crypto industry is still in a shaken state following the implosion of the FTX Derivatives Exchange which previously stood amongst the leading digital assets service providers in the industry.

Telegram plans to develop several decentralized alternatives including non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges which would help users trade crypto safely. 

“The time when the inefficiencies of legacy platforms justified centralization should be long gone. With technologies like TON reaching their potential, the blockchain industry should be finally able to deliver on its core mission – giving the power back to the people,” Durov said