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Telegram and TON: Pioneering the NFT Comeback of

As 2023 came to a close, many people were ready to declare the era of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) over. After a meteoric rise to fame in 2021 and a peak in 2022, the market seemed to have run out of steam. Trading volumes fell, media attention dwindled, and multiple marketplaces downsized or completely vanished. Fast forward to 2025, and the NFT market is experiencing an unexpected resurgence, led by the unlikely combination of Telegram and the TON blockchain.

Telegram, the popular messaging platform, is leveraging its vast user base to spark a new wave of NFT adoption. Meanwhile, the TON blockchain technology is providing the perfect infrastructure for this revival. The focus of the market has shifted from purely speculative assets to NFTs with tangible utility. The success of Telegram’s NFT projects like NFT-based Usernames, Anonymous Numbers, and Gifts may hold significant implications for the future.

To understand this resurgence, it’s important to travel back to 2024, a year that saw the NFT market in a slump. Data from DappRadar showed a 20% drop in overall trading volume for NFTs, causing many to believe that the market was undergoing a correction. Key platforms like MakersPlace shut down, while others scaled back their operations. This downturn was primarily driven by the cooling of the hype cycle that had fuelled the NFT boom of 2021-2022, coupled with regulatory uncertainty around crypto and blockchain technology.

Another major issue was market oversaturation. The market had been flooded with Profile Picture (PFP) collectibles that offered little beyond visual appeal. Collectors began to demand real-world use cases or platform-specific benefits, making it increasingly challenging to justify the price of an NFT that offered no extended functionality.

Enter Telegram, an instant messaging platform with over 950 million monthly active users worldwide. The platform’s massive user base turned out to be a goldmine for NFT adoption, as the transition from chatting with friends to exploring Telegram’s NFT features is significantly smoother than signing up for a separate NFT platform.

Telegram’s approach to NFTs is not about selling cartoon avatars for exorbitant prices. Instead, the platform has introduced utility-based NFT solutions like NFT Usernames, Anonymous Numbers, and Gifts, each serving a unique purpose. This focus on functionality is attracting users who might have been put off by the speculative mania of previous NFT cycles.

TON (The Open Network), a blockchain initially developed with Telegram’s involvement, is another key player in this resurgence. TON is fast, scalable, and user-friendly, making it perfect for applications like large-scale NFT projects that require high-speed transactions and a seamless user experience.

Getgems, a platform for Telegram-based NFTs, has played a significant role in promoting the wider adoption of NFTs on TON. With over 72 million TON traded in Telegram Usernames and 24 million TON spent on Anonymous Numbers, the demand for utility-driven NFTs is evidently high.

Telegram’s NFT innovations offer unique advantages. A Telegram username serves as an exclusive digital identity that can be sold, providing a liquidity component that typical usernames on other platforms do not have. Anonymous Numbers add an additional layer of privacy and security, while Telegram Gifts enable users to share valuable, collectible items with friends.

However, challenges lie ahead. Compliance and privacy issues will become increasingly important as Telegram’s NFT ecosystem grows, and user education remains a key challenge. Despite these hurdles, the combination of Telegram’s user base, TON’s scalable blockchain technology, and the thriving Getgems marketplace could drive a robust resurgence of NFTs in 2025.

The NFT renaissance of 2025 isn’t about digital art selling for millions. It’s about practical tools that improve user experience, privacy, and community engagement. As the year unfolds,