The overlooked TON is making a comeback through NFTs.

After the hype surrounding "TON Minigames" subsided, the TON ecosystem gradually faded from the primary attention of the market. Unexpectedly, this time the TON ecosystem has once again become the focus of the market due to another concept that had long fallen out of favor—NFTs.

On January 1st of this year, Telegram released its first update of the year. In this kick-off update, the "gifts" previously received on Telegram were officially upgraded to "collectibles." These collectibles are essentially NFTs, featuring traditional NFT characteristics such as randomness and rarity, and they can be transferred to other Telegram users or traded in NFT marketplaces.

Looking at trading volume, Telegram "gifts" officially began to pick up momentum around mid-May, and in recent days, they have experienced explosive growth. Increasing discussions and posts on Twitter highlight the breakout effect of Telegram "gifts" over the past few days.

From June 7 to June 9, the daily trading volume of Telegram "gifts" nearly doubled each day, growing from close to $3 million to surpassing $9 million.

Comparing the NFT trading volumes across different chains, TON has steadily outperformed Solana in terms of NFT trading volume since mid-May, maintaining a solid second place among all chains.

In the past few days, TON even overtook Ethereum, achieving a daily trading volume close to $10 million—approximately three times that of Ethereum.

On June 9, Telegram founder Pavel Durov personally posted a tweet promoting Telegram "gifts," mentioning several Telegram "gift" series that have seen significant price increases over the past month. He also noted how the TON blockchain achieved a milestone by surpassing Ethereum in daily NFT trading volume.

In the NFT marketplace competition, the largest TON NFT marketplace, TONNEL, has surpassed OpenSea in daily trading volume over the past two days. Other TON NFT marketplaces like Portals and Getgems have also achieved trading volumes comparable to Blur and Magic Eden in the past two days. Considering that TON NFT marketplaces only support the TON blockchain, whereas platforms like OpenSea support multiple chains, it can be confidently stated that TON stands out as a singular leader in the NFT market.

From the on-chain market transaction data of Getgems shown in the chart below, it is evident that there is currently one absolute leader in Telegram "Gifts": Plush Pepes. While maintaining a floor price of 5100 TON (approximately $16,800), it also ranks first in weekly trading volume among all Telegram "Gift" series, earning the reputation of "the more expensive, the more sought-after."

All the Telegram "Gift" series that made it to the weekly transaction leaderboard showed an overall upward trend in the chart above. The second place, however, is harder to pinpoint. Based on transaction volume and floor price, Durov's Caps currently holds the position, but it's possible for a newcomer to surpass it.

The TON NFT market is essentially the Telegram "Gift" market. So how did this emerge? How does it differ from the NFTs we are more familiar with? And what do NFT whales like Laser Cat @BitCloutCat think about it?

The Development of TON NFTs

On January 24, Telegram officially introduced the ability to integrate "Gifts" onto the TON Blockchain. Users could now send "Gifts" on Telegram to the TON chain for transactions, marking the beginning of "Gifts" as a vital part of the TON ecosystem.

Telegram further updated the "Gifts" that were upgraded to NFTs, endowing these "Gifts" with social attributes. In this update, "Gifts" functioned like badges and could be displayed after a user's Telegram profile name, adding a social dimension.

On February 14, Telegram launched 9 new limited "Gift" series, which sold out within hours, generating over $5 million in sales.

On March 7, Telegram once again enhanced the social features of "Gifts." After this update, users could not only wear one "Gift" after their username but could also showcase up to 6 "Gifts" on their profile's cover photo.

On May 8th, Telegram updated its native "Gifts" trading feature, enabling transactions using the platform's internal "Stars" currency for trading "Gifts."

On June 9th, Telegram's founder Pavel Durov personally tweeted to promote Telegram "Gifts," highlighting several Telegram "Gift" series that saw significant price increases over the past month. He also noted that the TON blockchain achieved a milestone by surpassing Ethereum in daily NFT transaction volume on that single day.

Differences Between TON NFTs and Traditional NFTs

1. Differences in Major Project Types

The NFT projects we are familiar with mainly include PFPs, token airdrop credentials, Pass cards, blockchain game items, and more. However, in this wave of TON NFT activity, the absolute main focus is Telegram "Gifts." A more appropriate Web2 analogy for "Gifts" might be QQ Show.

From the weekly transaction volume rankings on Getgems, aside from Telegram "Gifts," the top-ranking "Anonymous Telegram Number" (ranked #1) and "Telegram Usernames" (ranked #3) are not "Gifts" but still follow a "QQ logic." The former represents Telegram accounts that don't require binding to a phone number, while the latter represents unique usernames, similar to Twitter handles. Essentially, one is a premium number, and the other is a premium name.

Whether it's Telegram "Gifts," premium numbers, or premium names, they all originate from Telegram itself and provide tangible utility within the Telegram ecosystem. In contrast, community-created PFPs or other NFTs on the TON blockchain have yet to show significant growth or adoption.

2. Differences in Trading Models

In terms of initial launches, Telegram "Gifts" are issued by the platform itself, often released in surprise drops, and utilize Telegram's in-app "Stars" currency for new launches. This approach is vastly different from the traditional on-chain minting process we are accustomed to in the broader NFT space.

It is also worth mentioning that the new "Gift" series features a distinctive opening mechanism and comes with a relatively long lock-up period. First of all, if you successfully mint the "Gift" series, the "Gift" will initially exist as a "non-NFT mystery box." Only when Telegram officially enables the upgrade functionality can holders choose to upgrade, which essentially involves revealing the artwork and converting the gift into an NFT. After completing the upgrade, there is an additional 21-day waiting period before the NFT can be traded (to prevent abuse).

From the perspective of secondary market transactions, the implementation models of the trading platforms are divided into on-chain and off-chain. Off-chain trading is represented by TONNEL, which uses a transaction intermediary bot to facilitate the sending and receiving of Telegram "Gifts." This marketplace is embedded within Telegram in the form of a Mini App. On-chain trading, on the other hand, is exemplified by Getgems, where any NFT on the TON blockchain can be found, making it more in line with the operational habits of seasoned NFT players.

Currently, off-chain trading platforms account for a significantly larger transaction volume compared to on-chain platforms. This might partially reflect the substantial support for the Telegram "Gift" trend from Telegram's native users.

For a long time, off-chain transaction volumes have been overwhelmingly dominant compared to on-chain, often by a factor of nearly 10. However, in recent days, trading volumes on on-chain platforms have started to grow, narrowing the gap slightly. This could be a sign that more crypto users are beginning to join the ecosystem.

3. Differences in Usage

When using on-chain trading platforms, the "Gift" you acquire is in NFT (on-chain) form and must be transferred to Telegram before it can be worn. This is another reason why off-chain trading platforms are more popular: transaction bots can directly transfer the off-chain version of the "Gift" to your account for immediate use, eliminating one extra step.

Opinions from NFT Whales

BitClout Cat @BitCloutCat shared their thoughts during an interview with BlockBeats. They mentioned that they first noticed Telegram "Gifts" in March when Plush Pepe (currently the most valuable item in the "Gift" collection) was priced at approximately 1000 U. However, they missed the opportunity because they didn't realize at the time that "Gifts" were already wearable and had social attributes.

After the hype picked up, he conducted in-depth research again—this has social scenarios, and the ability to show off. Isn’t this just like "QQ Show"? The primary market rush for new launches using "stars" and Q-Coins is also quite similar. Moreover, this time even celebrities both within and outside the industry, such as Snoop Dogg's official Telegram account, Telegram's founder, and Luca Netz, the founder of Pudgy Penguins, are on board, indicating a potentially broad audience base.

Due to the cooling-off period, a price spread exists between on-chain and off-chain trading markets. On-chain trading, which allows instant buying and selling, tends to be a bit more expensive, while off-chain usage comes with a lockup period before it can be traded again.

According to observations by Laser Cat, the current key players seem to be Russians and some NFT enthusiasts. Many discussion groups are in Russian. Although some discussions have emerged in the Chinese-speaking community, they remain relatively scarce, making it hard to determine whether it is still in its early or late stages. However, he believes that if done well, it holds significant potential and has the opportunity to break into the mainstream, directly attracting Web2 users, as it’s a "gift" that can be sent directly to friends within Telegram without requiring them to have a crypto wallet initially. Currently, in the secondary market, collections with relatively low supply and aesthetically pleasing designs have generally appreciated. If the creator ecosystem is opened up in the future, the hype could grow even further.

Conclusion

The Telegram "gifts" this time, along with the recent MapleStory blockchain game, have both used practical applications to bring NFTs back into market focus. It’s already been nearly four years since the summer when NFTs were all the rage. The term "NFT" is no longer a golden label for speculation, but it has quietly assumed more practical applications, showcasing its functionality on larger platforms. Hopefully, more NFT applications like Telegram's "gifts" will emerge, injecting more vitality into the market.