In 2022, Telegram created a “username market”, allowing users to resell their usernames as NFTs. In 2024, V3V Ventures fund acquired usernames such as @ether and @cryp as a form of crypto investment, tying them to a public channel with the crypto news.
Up until 2022, Telegram users just acquired usernames for free, just like on another social media platforms. But they could change their usernames. That led to the possiblitiy of selling them. If someone had an attractive username, another person could approach the owner and ask: “If I will pay you, will you change your username to another one, so I can quickly grab this one after it becomes free?”
That worked for some people, but was far from ideal. What if one side of the deal cheats and does not fulfill the promise? What if someone will snatch a username quicker than the person who paid for it?
And in 2022 it changes with the integration of TON blockchain. Now Telegram usernames were implemented as NFTs on that blockchain. And that means they could be resold just like regular NFTs via TON NFT marketplaces, such as GetGems. Also, a special website Fragment was created specifically for tasks like buying usernames with Toncoins. It uses an auction system, so everyone all over the world can compete over the usernames.
All that means it’s much harder to cheat: a seller and a buyer can’t just get what they want without fulfilling their obligations. And that means the whole process is more transparent. Instead of just chatting in private, people can see the bids made on the auction.
That lead to a surge of Telegram username trading. The best ones went away for sums bigger than 1,000,000 dollars. Some were resold with a profit. In short, Telegram usernames became a valuable crypto assets.
And in 2024 the Singapore-based V3V Ventures fund went further with it. It acquired usernames such as @ether and @cryp — some of the shortest crypto-related ones. It not just held them, but tied to a public Telegram channel and started posting crypto news in it. And it managed to attract more than 5 million followers to that channel.
So it looks like the most meta crypto investment: a crypto-related fund bought a crypto-related usernames, which are implemented as NFTs, and used them to create a crypto news media.
