Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Makes Big Bet on NFTs! Launches Gift Marketplace

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The broader NFT market appears to be staging a comeback. The total weekly volume has reached over $103 million, up 7% from the prior week.

This rebound has been driven in large part by the highly anticipated Doodles token launch—DOOD went live on Solana on yesterday on May 9. This ended up sparking a 97% surge in Doodles NFT sales in the 24 hours before the airdrop.

Adding to the excitement, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Telegram Founder Pavel Durov has also announced a major NFT move in the market.

On May 9 via his personal channel, Telegram founder announced the launch of Telegram’s new in-app Gift Marketplace. In Telegram’s NFT-based marketplace, users can buy, sell, and resell rare collectible NFT-styled “Gifts” using Telegram Stars.

How Telegram’s New NFT Marketplace Works

Telegram’s new NFT marketplace is a new in-app marketplace where users can buy and sell special animated “gifts” as NFTs. The marketplace is built on The Open Network (TON) blockchain and uses Telegram’s Stars currency for transactions.

These collectible gift items are implemented as TON-based NFTs, meaning owners have true on-chain ownership and can trade the items outside Telegram.

Telegram’s official blog describes a straightforward trading interface. In this, users can apply advanced search filters to buy and sell a gift.

Once listed, the gift gets a “Sale” label on the profile so that others can see it’s available. Listings can be canceled at any time by tapping Unlist. All trades settle instantly in Stars, Telegram’s in-app micropayment token, and the blockchain records each gift’s ownership.

In fact, some gifts initially sold for just a few dollars have already spiked to tens of thousands of dollars in secondary markets.

Telegram Push Could Give NFTs their Moment

The new gift marketplace builds on Telegram’s ongoing Web3 push. Telegram originally developed the TON blockchain (now community-run) and has steadily integrated it into the app.

Telegram’s public statements emphasize that gifts have already been a hit.

The blog notes that when collectible gift collections launched in January, “some collections sold out in minutes”.

Durov himself reported that “users have acquired more than 20 million Gifts” on Telegram since launch.

Notably, special holiday events drove massive volume. For Valentine’s Day 2025, Telegram released nine limited-edition gift collections (four of which were immediately mintable as NFTs on TON).

Telegram’s move can also serve as a potential catalyst for broader NFT adoption. The broader NFT market has cooled significantly in 2024, with trading volume down roughly 20% year-over-year and platforms like MakersPlace closing.

However, the recent surge in NFT sales and coming up of new marketplaces can drive it further.