《Summary of Telegram On-Chain Ecosystem》 (Including the new Gift section) Although many people browse Telegram groups daily, not many truly understand its asset ecosystem. Telegram holds a pivotal position in the crypto space, serving as a standard platform for every project. A large number of users are also permanently active in Telegram communities. In the past two years, there have been two major trends closely related to the crypto space: The first wave started in 2013 with the trading bot craze, such as Unibot, Master, Banana, and later Pepeboost, GMGN, and other trading bots. The second wave occurred in early 2024 with Telegram mini-games like $NOT, which created a wealth myth through airdrops. Apart from trading bots and mini-games, Telegram itself has its own ecosystem, which will be discussed next. 1. Username Trading Telegram supports putting usernames on-chain. Rare usernames are extremely valuable. For example, the username "news" was sold for as high as 994,000 TON, which is equivalent to three million USD at the current TON price. This benefit belongs to those who registered usernames early on Telegram. Securing a short, versatile username is akin to picking up a fortune with your eyes closed. 2. Anonymous Phone Numbers Anonymous phone numbers were introduced in December 2022 as scarce assets. Once the sale ended, no more were issued. They can be used for anonymous login on Telegram. I’ve introduced this multiple times on Twitter, and it was one of the good alpha opportunities I found during my early days. Anonymous + Scarcity = Rigid Demand Even though the initial sale price was below 10 TON (around $20), the price hardly dropped. Now, the floor price is 580 TON, worth approximately $2,000, making it a perfect 100x asset. I bought several at the time and have been using them ever since. For example, my Telegram phone number is +888 09990888 (anonymous numbers start with 888). An interesting story is that when the sale started, I told a friend to buy some with me. He bought a few but sold them after a couple of months, thinking they hadn’t appreciated much. However, they skyrocketed almost every month afterward. Every time they surged, I’d send him a screenshot, prompting him to regret his decision. 3. Gift Section [New Section] This is a section I’ve recently started researching. Essentially, it’s Telegram’s sale of gifts that can be exchanged between users. In the chat box, they appear as animated stickers and can also be seen on personal profile pages. Taking Plush Pepes, the most traded item, as an example: its initial sale price was 2000 STAR ≈ $31. Now, the floor price is 1050 TON ≈ $3,500, making it another 100x asset. In recent days, the trading volume of the Gift section has started to grow significantly. Personally, I’ve been buying a lot, and it’s hard to stop. If I were to evaluate this asset in one sentence, it would be: "A solid asset shell with speculation potential," worth allocating. Its drawbacks are obvious, such as: ① In terms of practical use, it doesn’t compare to phone numbers and is merely an animated sticker for gifting. ② Telegram can continuously release new Gift series, which might dilute its value. However, in my view, early-issued Gifts have relatively low quantities, limited listings, and modest trading volumes, but their prices are steadily rising. This suggests that if capital is willing to continue speculating, further price increases are not difficult. I even feel that the recent abnormal surge in trading volume indicates that some major players might have taken notice of these assets. Personally, after posting on Telegram, I’ve bought a bit of every Gift, including two frogs and five hats from the top-tier items. The more I buy, the more addictive it becomes. You can purchase these items on the following two websites. Currently, the buying experience on GetGems feels better, while Fragment allows you to convert purchased Gifts into Telegram for gifting. I’ll write another article later to explain the specific operations and the conversion between on-chain and Telegram. As for other things, I’ll briefly mention them. If you’re interested, you can explore them yourself: ① Use $TON to activate Telegram Premium (membership) at half the official price. ② Telegram’s embedded wallet allows participation in TON DeFi to earn yields, though there are significant restrictions in some regions. ③ Use $TON to publish ads and accept advertisements.