Telegram launches new ‘Gifts’ feature with NFT integration

Telegram has launched a “Gifts” feature where users can buy presents for their friends. The gifts look like animated images to which you can add a message and will be displayed on a separate tab in the user’s profile.

Recipients can opt to sell their gifts in exchange for virtual money known as “Telegram Stars.” Earlier this year, the social messaging platform launched the in-app currency, Stars. The feature allows Mini Apps on the platform to accept payments for digital services. It also highlighted that Stars can be used to support creators. 

The Stars would serve to fund creators or to pay for other services in mini apps. The gifting option with customizable messages and emojis is available on each contact profile.

Telegram’s limited-edition gifts and business verification

The new feature will be limited in quantity. Some of these limited-edition gifts are intended to be converted into NFTs using Telegram’s own blockchain, based on TON. These NFTs will enable users to auction and exchange the presents outside the app, with ownership recorded on the blockchain.

Telegram CEO Pavel Valeryevich Durov commented on the development on his Telegram channel. He mentioned that the holiday season, including his birthday, is just around the corner, and with the newly launched feature, users can send gifts to their friends and loved ones. He noted that the animated artwork will soon support NFT conversions. The executive added that holders will have the ability to convert some gifts into NFTs.

He explained: 

Some gifts are in limited supply. Later this year, we’ll introduce the ability to convert these limited-edition gifts into TON-based NFTs.

~Pavel Valeryevich Durov

Apart from the gifts feature, the messaging platform also updated its business verification service. The newly launched verification platform allows companies to send customers verification codes for just $0.01 per code using the Fragment platform.

The method is supposed to be faster and more secure than traditional SMS-based verification schemes. The platform’s gateway API is freely testable, meaning developers can try playing with the system before actually implementing it.

CEO Durov insists on law enforcement cooperation amid privacy scrutiny

These upgrades come at a time when Telegram’s privacy and security have been questioned.

Recently, founder and CEO Pavel Durov addressed some concerns about the platform’s cooperation with law enforcement, stating that it began exchanging crime-related information with authorities in 2018.

Nonetheless, Durov says that Telegram’s privacy regulations safeguard users and do not tolerate any type of wrongdoing. This comment was made months before the legal issues between Durov and the French state, in which he was charged with six counts of alleged unlawful actions on Telegram and had a bail of $5.5 million.