Blockchain
Would you pay for a username on social media? Telegram is hoping sure.
The messaging app is quickly to launch a username public sale platform on The Open Community (TON) blockchain, the corporate mentioned in an official channel on Thursday.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov revealed the undertaking in August, citing inspiration from the success of a current TON public sale for his or her pockets usernames. Some, together with “on line casino.ton,” bought for over $200,000.
“If TON has been in a position to obtain these outcomes, think about how profitable Telegram with its 700 million customers may very well be if we put reserved @ usernames, group and channel hyperlinks for public sale,” he mentioned.
However Durov isn’t stopping there. “Different components of the Telegram ecosystem, together with channels, stickers or emoji, may later additionally grow to be a part of this market,” he added.
Paying for usernames is not new. Over half 1,000,000 folks have paid for usernames on Ethereum by way of the Ethereum Title Service (ENS), in keeping with Non Fungible’s market tracker.
It isn’t only a web3 phenomenon both. It is turning into tougher and tougher to get the specified username on platforms like Twitter and Instagram and a few individuals are going to nice lengths to acquire them. Suggestions and methods on-line recommend the whole lot from asking the platforms to reassign unused usernames to elaborate copyright schemes.
Others goes even additional. Some companies will even acquire social media names by way of hacking the unique proprietor.
Telegram started exploring blockchain options and dealing on the then-named Telegram Open Community in 2018. Later that yr, it raised $1.7 billion in a personal sale of TON tokens.
In October 2019 the U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee accused it of conducting an unregistered securities providing and sued Telegram. In 2020, underneath strain from regulators, Telegram deserted the undertaking.
Open supply builders continued to work on the undertaking. In 2022, it rebranded as The Open Community with a reside, totally operational mainnet.
