Telegram Gift Goes Viral: What Makes It Stronger Than Previous NFTs?

2025.06.13

Telegram Gift Goes Viral: What Makes It Stronger Than Previous NFTs?

The best user experience creates the greatest value for users.

2025.06.13 - 07:47:07

TelegramNFT

Navigating Web3 tides with focused insights

The best user experience creates the greatest value for users.

Author: Howard

Translation: TechFlow

As someone who still holds an Azuki (@Azuki) NFT (wallet address: "howard-peng.eth"), has been deeply involved in the TON blockchain (@TON_blockchain) ecosystem for over two and a half years, and worked at @Binance for three years, I feel I can quickly share some thoughts on this topic.

I’d like to approach this from two angles:

"Content is king, distribution is queen" — user-centric perspective.

The best user experience creates the most value for users.

First — "Distribution matters"

Good distribution channels often lead to better (even optimal) user experiences. I still remember back in 2021, when I shared my NFTs with my "Web2" friends, they asked me: "Why pay money to buy an NFT instead of just copying the image?"

In that moment, I felt frustrated and almost speechless. All I could say was: "No, it's not the same! It's in my crypto wallet — look!"

But they didn’t care at all.

We all remember how painfully the NFT craze ended in 2021.

Maybe I’ll keep my Azuki for my son.

My first point: Why are Telegram Gifts different for me?

"They prove ownership in a simpler, more accessible way."

This is my initial response to your skepticism. I believe past NFT experiences don't apply here.

(By the way, check out my Gifts <3)

You can view it here:

https://t.me/nft/PlushPepe-279

Remember my opening statement? Did you verify whether I actually own an Azuki?

I bet you didn’t.

Because you'd need my wallet address; even though I have an ENS name (and I do), you still can't easily access it without hyperlinks like those on Etherscan.io — plus you’d have to check if my ENS is renewed?

It’s maddening. I hate this.

I hate it because of those annoying check-in processes at every Web3 event; I hate it because showcasing my social identity and NFTs feels so fragmented.

I also hate my Azuki — not only because its dollar value dropped, but because even after purchasing it, I still can’t easily show it off! (@Zagabond)

Given these real pain points we've experienced, I think we should call them "Telegram Gifts," not simply "NFTs."

Why?

Because this leads to my second point: rethinking from Telegram’s perspective — how do we deliver the best user experience?

So, the second key point:

The best user experience creates the most value for users.

But the best user experience isn’t provided by on-chain wallets like MetaMask, Phantom, Rabbit, or similar tools. Sorry, that’s just the truth — look at what Binance and OKX have done over the past few years to solve this very issue.

This is why you need to shift your perspective.

From Telegram’s point of view (or more precisely, from its sole product manager Pavel Durov’s (@durov) perspective), user experience is clearly the top priority.

This priority forces you to rethink and adapt under a set of constraints: from TON becoming the only chain supporting Mini-Apps (@tappscenter), to the emergence of Telegram Stars due to Apple’s App Store policies (that’s a long story I won’t get into).

This is exactly why I’ve been advocating for the concept of "StarFi" over the past six months (or longer):

https://x.com/0xHoward_Peng/status/1880314176712896785

https://x.com/0xHoward_Peng/status/1881114449723130250

(God, explaining this historical context is exhausting.)

In short:

Making sure Telegram Messenger doesn't get removed from the App Store is currently the highest priority.

Under such constraints, designing "digitized content assets" becomes an enormous challenge.

This is why the current Gifts model is both critical and elegantly simple:

Start with gifting (sending gifts to Telegram friends).
Optionally convert them into "unique assets, such as NFTs."

From both business and user experience perspectives, this is nearly optimal.

I know what you might say:

"But it lacks on-chain metadata."
"But it wasn't originally minted on the TON blockchain."
"But it's not fully decentralized."

But I’d argue that postponing the minting step until the end is actually a reasonable and elegant design — because otherwise, you’d scare away most new users. (By the way, you probably already know that NFTs like Azuki and Bored Ape also rely on centralized metadata, right?)

A similar example is CS:GO skins: imagine how absurd and terrible the experience would be if users had to bind their bank accounts and set withdrawal passwords before buying a skin!

As a former Head of Developer Relations for Asia at the TON Foundation, I deeply understand the potential of the TON blockchain — both in terms of wallet user base and technical capabilities. But after months of reflection, I’ve gradually realized that building an ecosystem isn’t just about technical feasibility — it’s more importantly about delivering real value to users.

A purely EVM-based solution isn’t the only future, nor is a faster TPS EVM chain. Why? Because user motivation hasn’t truly been unlocked — there simply aren’t enough active "on-chain users" conducting transactions (or perhaps only bots are active?).

This brings me to my second point, which requires deeper discussion — this is more of a business strategy than just a technical matter. After spending over two years immersed in this ecosystem, I find it neither wise nor fair to superficially criticize a platform with a billion users (@Telegram Gifts).

Ultimately, I believe I should invest more time writing structured articles elaborating my vision for the future — whether about Telegram Gifts themselves (why and how they’ve taken their current form), or the opportunities ahead. However, given limitations of time and space, I need to carefully refine these ideas.

Considering the consistently low visibility of the TON/Telegram community on Crypto Twitter (CT), here are some interesting community tools related to Telegram Gifts: