Telegram Founder Proposes to Auction Usernames for NFT-like Smart Contracts

• Blockchain Council
• September 12, 2022

The creator of today’s highly secure portal Telegram, Pavel Durov, has proposed the concept of a domain or marketplace that would employ “NFT-like smart contracts” to bid off popular usernames.

Durov voiced his response to TON, a layer-1 blockchain that was first in the line launched by the Telegram squad, and its “success” in conducting domain name bids. During the mid-july, the blockchain project brought the TON DNS service into the limelight enabling users to access human-readable names to websites, cryptocurrency and smart contract wallets.

In a Telegram group, Durov expressed his views about auction success conducted by TON. This could be a brilliant opportunity for NFT lovers who are looking for opportunities to enter the domain. The founder also indicated that they would also dive-in to a similar domain.

He quoted: “Imagine how successful Telegram with its 700 million users could be if we put reserved @ usernames, group and channel links for auction.” Telegram can roll out similar technology with catchy addresses like @storm or @royal, and all four-letter usernames. Other features such as emojis, channels, etc can be part of the marketplace in some time.

The very first TON DNS auctions started on July 30. The same as the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) “.eth” domains, the “.ton” variation enables users to browse dapps without having to write a complicated string of characters from their wallet addresses.

The TON Virtual Machine and specialised smart contracts are launched on the blockchain using the FunC programming language on the TON network. It is highly likely that if Telegram were to introduce NFTs, they will be built on such standards.

Reportedly, Durov and his friends launched TON, prior called the Telegram Open Network, with the messaging application back in 2018, a similar interface for Telegram should be rather straightforward.

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