Telegram sells usernames worth $50 million on the Open Network blockchain

Quick Take

  • Telegram has sold more than $50 million in usernames, founder Pavel Durov said.
  • The names were sold via Fragment, a platform that secures name ownership on the blockchain.

In slightly less than one month, Telegram has sold $50 million usernames on The Open Network, a blockchain that the company developed, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov claimed. 

Last month, Telegram in October gave users the ability to buy usernames for its app via a blockchain-based platform called Fragment. The platform lets interested parties buy available usernames and secure ownership on its "The Open Network" blockchain, known as TON.

When buying a name, users pay with the TON cryptocurrency, the native asset of the network. In the last four weeks, Fragment sales surpassed $50 million, Durov said in a Telegram message. Some individual Telegram usernames have brought in large sums of money on Fragment. For example, the username @news was auctioned for 994,000 TON, about $1.7 million, per data from the official website.

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Durov said that in future Fragment will expand beyond usernames and build a host of blockchain tools for Telegram including crypto wallets and decentralized exchanges. Such services may be accessed from within the Telegram app, Durov suggested.

“Telegram's next step is to build a set of decentralized tools, including non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges for millions of people to securely trade and store cryptocurrencies,” Durov said.


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Vishal Chawla is The Block’s crypto ecosystems editor and has spent over six years covering tech protocols, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Vishal likes to delve deep into blockchain intricacies to ensure readers are well-informed about the continuously evolving crypto landscape. He is also a staunch advocate for rigorous security practices in the space. Before joining The Block, Vishal held positions at IDG ComputerWorld, CIO, and Crypto Briefing. He can be reached on Twitter at @vishal4c and via email at [email protected]

Editor

To contact the editors of this story:
Walden Siew at
[email protected]
Colin Wilhelm at
[email protected]