The Telegram messaging app, one of the top 10 most popular apps globally, is once again breaking ground in the blockchain ecosystem by hosting an offer for unique, unused usernames for interested users.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov broke the news on a declaration made through the official channel of the company.

Telegram users will be able to buy and sell second-hand unique usernames in protected contracts using the Open telegram network (TON). The company decided to use TON because it is fast and highly scalable, and Telegram previously used TON to run a wallet/domain name auction with great success. Casino.ton sold for approximately $244,000, Toncoin sold for approximately $260,000, while Wallet.ton sold for approximately $215,250.

According to Durov, “the development phase is almost over and the auction platform will be launched soon. Make sure you don’t miss out on the most valuable usernames and secure your ownership on the TON blockchain’s immutable ledger.”

“This market could also include other components of the Telegram ecosystem such as channels, stickers or emojis,” Durov added.

What has been happening with Telegram

Telegram published the TON testnet explorer and node software in 2019. Soon after, the iOS alpha version of the Gram token wallet was made available. Since the TON network is interoperable with the Ethereum network, users were able to transfer their Ethereum smart contracts to it.

In 2020, Durov made a ad abandoning the TON and Gram token wallets as a result of a protracted legal dispute with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The CEO of Telegram further stated that he feels that US courts are abusing their power over the dollar and going beyond their scope of domestic law to decide what is best for the rest of the world.

In recent news, Telegram with its 700 million users can now trade toncoin and Bitcoin using Wallet Bot. Telegram users can buy the two cryptocurrencies and send them to each other through chat messages.

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