Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced today the launch of a new feature called “Gifts.” This innovative feature allows users to send virtual gifts to their loved ones, which can then be displayed on profiles or sold for Telegram’s internal currency, “Stars.”
Durov said the holiday season as the perfect time to introduce Gifts, stating, “Gifts are a great way to congratulate your loved ones on important events.” He also hinted at the possibility of converting limited-edition gifts into TON-based NFTs later this year, allowing users to trade and auction these tokenized items outside of Telegram.
According to official post, when you receive a gift, you can display it on the new ‘Gifts’ tab of your profile — or discard the gift and get some of its Stars to spend elsewhere, including on more gifts:
To send a gift, open the user’s profile and tap ⋮ / ⋯ > Send a Gift. You can add any message or emoji.
Additionally, Telegram launched a platform for businesses to verify customer phone numbers: this new verification platform lets users easily confirm their phone numbers by receiving a code via Telegram and will cost businesses $0.01 per user.
Pavel Durov was recently detained in France and then released. In several statements after his release, he said that user information was shared with the authorities in a way that contradicted the privacy expectations of Telegram users.
