Telegram announced today that will it hold an auction for usernames — for both individual accounts and channels — through a marketplace built on top of the TON blockchain.

In August, the idea was first mentioned by Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, noting the possibility of adding "a little bit of Web 3.0 to Telegram in the coming weeks." At that time, he stated that he was impressed with the success of the auction of domain names by the TON Foundation.

"I am really impressed with the success of the auction TON recently conducted for their domain/wallet names. Wallet.ton was sold for 215,250 Toncoin (~$260000) while casino.ton was sold for ~$244000.".

If TON has managed to do all this, imagine how good Telegram could be with 700 million users if we put reserve @ usernames, group, and channel links for sale," he said. Today, the company is trying to implement that plan.

Telegram and TON Foundation are using a separate website, Fragment.com, as an auction hub. Users will be able to log into the site using Telegram, the tonkeeper app, or their TON-based wallets. The website will also help users link their Telegram accounts to the handles they have bought.

At launch, the messaging app is auctioning four and five-character handles that will all be available to everyone. Telegram users can also put up for auction their existing handles which they may have been owning. Each handle put out for auction will end within a week with an added hour for final bidding. The company is setting a minimum auction value for four character handles at 10,000 toncoins — that at the time of writing translates roughly to $18,400.

For the first time, social media users will be able to transparently prove that they own their handles thanks to their tokenization on the TON blockchain," said Andrew Rogozov, a founding member of the TON Foundation.

Telegram had high hopes for the web3 world, but it had to leave those ambitions behind. In 2018, the company came up with the idea of Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain project and an initial coin offering (ICO). The project secured funding from big-name investors like Benchmark and Lightspeed Capital, which put in $1.7 billion. However, after a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Telegram was compelled to leave the project behind.

After Telegram stopped working on TON, various independent groups continued the development with Toncoin getting backing from Durov and winning the rights to ton.org website in 2021. However, the Telegram founder has tried to distance himself from direct involvement with the project.

Telegram has been trying out different ways to generate revenue so that the company can stay afloat. Last year, it launched ad spots on public channels. A few months ago, the company launched a paid version that offers large file transfer, exclusive stickers and reactions, and voice messages into text. The new announcement of username auction on the blockchain is another step to get some more moolah in the bank.