Popular instant messaging service Telegram has launched a marketplace, on TON blockchain, for its user handles. Through the new platform, users can buy and sell usernames and channels with Toncoin, which is the native token of The Open Network. The said network is the spiritual successor to Telegram’s independent blockchain ambitions but was hurdled by regulators two years ago.
Telegram, in an official statement, said users can search for and purchase three-to-four character domains, auction their existing handles and bind pre-bought handles to off-chain accounts. For a start, the platform will post four-to-five character handles for auction and the lesser can be bought for a minimum of 126 Toncoin, worth around $200.
Pavel Durov, Telegram Founder, is impressed with the success of the auction TON recently conducted for their domain/wallet names. He said Wallet. ton was sold for 215,250 Toncoin, about $260,000, while casino. ton was sold for $244,000. Durov believes if TON has been able to achieve these results, the same could be done if it put reserved @ usernames, groups, and channel links for auction. The platform and TON Foundation are using Fragment.com as a hub for the auctions. Users can log into their accounts to take advantage of the auction.
The chat app, at launch, is putting on sale four- and five-character handles that will be available for everyone. It should be noted that Telegram users can also put up their own existing handles for auction. Andrew Rogozov, the founding member of the TON Foundation, said social media users will be able to transparently approve that they own their handles thanks to their tokenization on the TON blockchain.
