New Telegram Gifts Feature Launched With NFT Support

Key Points:

• The new Telegram Gifts feature allows users to send customizable gifts, which recipients can display or exchange for Telegram Stars.
• Telegram also introduced a low-cost verification service for businesses, charging $0.01 per customer verification code.

Telegram introduced its latest “Gifts” feature, which allows users to buy presents for their friends, which would be visible either on the recipient’s profile or sold out in exchange for virtual money known as “Telegram Stars”.

Read more: Telegram Wallet App Now Unavailable in the UK 

Telegram Gifts Feature Introduced with NFT Capabilities

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

More interestingly, the Telegram Gifts feature will come in limited supply, and some of these limited-edition gifts plan to convert into NFTs through Telegram’s very blockchain, based on TON. These NFTs actually will let users auction and trade gifts outside of the app, with ownership recorded on the blockchain.

In addition to Telegram Gifts feature, the messaging platform has also updated its verification service for businesses while companies can send customers verification codes for just $0.01 per code using the Fragment platform.

The method positions itself as faster and more secure than traditional schemes for SMS-based verification. The Gateway API of the platform is freely testable, meaning developers can try playing with the system before actually implementing it.

Telegram Addresses Privacy Concerns Amid Law Enforcement Cooperation

These updates come at a period where attitudes to the privacy and security of Telegram have been called into question. Recently, founder and CEO Pavel Durov spoke about some of the concerns centred around whether the platform cooperated with law enforcement to say that it began sharing information about crime with authorities in 2018.

Still, Durov claims that Telegram‘s privacy policies protect its users and do not condone any form of crime. This statement was made months earlier from the alleged ongoing legal battle between Durov and the state in France, facing six counts for purported illicit activities on Telegram, with bail set at $5.5 million.