I have seen few people in the Chinese community discussing the news of Telegram's entry into Web3, and there is no detailed research report on Telegram's gameplay, but my intuition tells me that Telegram has great ambitions in Web3 and has a big layout. Therefore, we need to take a serious look at Telegram's layout and progress in Web3.
1. Introduction to Telegram software
Telegram (informally referred to as TG) is a cross-platform instant messaging software. Its client is free and open source software, but the server is proprietary software. Users can exchange encrypted and self-destructing messages, and send photos, videos and all other types of files. The official version provides mobile versions (Android, iOS, Windows Phone), desktop versions (Windows, macOS, Linux) and web versions for multiple platforms; at the same time, the official application programming interface (API) is open, so there are many third-party clients to choose from.
Telegram was officially launched in 2013 by the Durov brothers (Nikolai Durov and Pavel Durov). The Durov brothers are the founders of VKontakte, the largest social networking service in Russia. Telegram Messenger LLP is an independent company established in London, and the development team is located in Dubai. Nikolai Durov designed the MTProto protocol for Telegram, while Pavel Durov provided funding and infrastructure from Digital Fortress.
In June 2022, Telegram launched the paid Telegram Premium, priced at $4.99 per month. After subscribing to Telegram Premium, you can use premium stickers, no sponsored ads will be displayed in the channel, the maximum number of channels you can join is doubled compared to the number of unsubscribed channels, faster download speeds and other additional features.
main feature
1. Active users
In June 2022, the number of monthly active users worldwide exceeded 700 million;
2. Communication security
The official claims that Telegram has strong communication security features and is safer than other instant messaging software that mainly targets the general mass market, such as WhatsApp and Line.
There are two types of chat sessions in Telegram:
"General chat" mode creates an encrypted connection between the two parties' clients and the Telegram server, allowing full functionality;
"Secret chat" mode uses end-to-end encryption, some features (such as forwarding) are unavailable, and can only be accessed by the clients that initiated the conversation.
Officially, when two users are communicating, third parties, including administrators, cannot access the content of the users' communications. When users are having secret chats, messages including multimedia can be designated as self-destructing messages. After the message is read by the user, it will be automatically destroyed within a specified time. Once the message expires, it will disappear from the user's device.
3. Government Regulation
In August 2018, Telegram amended its privacy policy, stating that if law enforcement investigation agencies can prove that a specific user is a terrorist, they will cooperate with the court's request to provide the user's IP, phone number and other information.
After the passage of the Hong Kong National Security Law, some Hong Kong citizens are concerned about the lack of security of instant messaging software. On July 5, 2020, Mike Ravdonikas, Marketing Director of Telegram, said in an interview with the Hong Kong Free Press, an English online media in Hong Kong, that Telegram will suspend accepting requests from the Hong Kong government for user data until the legislation obtains consensus from the international community, and stressed that it has never submitted any data to the Hong Kong government.
4. Main disputes
TG is censored or blocked in the following countries/regions:
Since TG does not have a content review function, it is also controversial in the following aspects:
Involvement in terrorist activities
For example, in November 2015, it was frequently used by ISIS-related organizations.
Pornographic content, copyright infringement content
Such as the South Korean Nth Room incident
Illegal sale of personal information
Spreading phishing Trojans
2. Telegram’s Web3 ambitions
On December 1, TG founder Pavel Durov gave a detailed explanation of his understanding of the blockchain industry and Telegram's Web3 layout on his Twitter.
He said: “The blockchain industry was built on the promise of decentralization, but ended up being concentrated in the hands of a few who began to abuse their power. The solution is clear: blockchain-based projects should return to their roots — decentralization. Crypto users should switch to trustless exchanges and self-custodial wallets.
As developers, we should lead the blockchain industry away from centralization by building fast and easy-to-use decentralized applications for the masses. Such a project is finally possible today. Fragment — a fully decentralized auction platform, took only 5 weeks and 5 people to build.
We were able to do this because Fragment is based on The Open Network, or TON, a blockchain platform that is fast and efficient enough to host popular applications. Fragment has been incredibly successful, selling $50 million worth of usernames in less than a month.
This week, Fragments will expand beyond usernames. The next step for Telegram is to build a suite of decentralized tools, including non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges, for millions of people to securely trade and store cryptocurrency. This way we can right the wrongs of the current overcentralization. The days of legacy platforms’ inefficiencies justifying centralization should be long gone. As technologies like TON realize their potential, the blockchain industry should finally be able to achieve its core mission — giving power back to the people. "
Considered to be a reflection on the FTX incident and a correction of the mistakes caused by over-centralization, TG vowed to return to the core mission of blockchain research: decentralization and returning power to the people. This long article mentioned several key elements:
1. TG tradable username 2. Fragment 3. The Open Network ($TON) 4. Non-custodial wallet 5. Decentralized exchange
Below I will explain the tutorial on how to register a username and trade on Fragment, as well as my experience and observations on the usage process.
The use of registered TG is very simple. You can download the Telegram software on the software market such as IOS. According to the registration prompts, you need to provide any mobile phone number that can receive text messages (it can be a virtual number, one phone with multiple numbers, etc.).
After registration is complete, click Setting → Edit to see the registered mobile phone number and a blank Username option. This username can be converted into a collection and auctioned on the decentralized exchange Fragment.
The current username registration rules are: 5 characters or more, cannot start with a number, enter an acceptable username and click OK in the upper right corner. It should be noted that it will take some time for a newly registered username to be available for Fragment trading.
4. Fragment
Fragment is a free platform that facilitates the trading of collectibles between users. It supports direct, secure and anonymous sales as well as public auctions, where everyone can participate for a period of time. In order to provide this service transparently, Fragment makes full use of TON, a blockchain technology originally developed by Telegram.
Fragment is very easy to use, even a novice can quickly get started.
Step 1: Type https://fragment.com in your browser and the following interface will be displayed. There are two options in the upper right corner: Connect Telegram and Connect TON.
Step 2: Click Connect Telegram to pop up the login interface. Enter the number you used to register TG and you will receive a message in the TG software to confirm that you will use this account to link to Fragment.com
Step 3: Download the Tonkeeper wallet on your mobile phone, register the wallet according to the prompts, keep the mnemonic phrase safe, and you will get a Tonkeeper address. Click Connect TON in the upper right corner of the website and use your wallet to scan the QR code to log in.
After the above four simple steps, you have logged in to Fragment. The interface is very simple, showing the collections of usernames currently being auctioned, or you can search for the usernames you want to collect.
Click the down arrow ⬇️ on the upper right corner of the account, you can see the My Username option, which contains the username you just successfully registered. My registered username is @y2049, and your username is still displayed as [Non-collection username]. There is an action on the right, click the blue button Place on Auction to put the item on the auction.
The right side shows that your TG username is y2049, your web address is t.me/y2049, and TON's Web3 address is y2049.t.me. The prototype of a full set of DID user facilities around the TG username has been displayed in front of you.
The Conversion fee* is displayed at the bottom left, which means converting your non-collection username into a collection username. The fee is 5 $TON and 5% of the final transaction price. It also shows that after the auction ends, you will receive the transaction price minus the conversion fee, which means you do not need to pay in advance.
Click the Place on Acution button, and your TG will receive a robot SMS from Fragment Auction Alerts in real time. The SMS message is as follows:
Dear Dr. Golden Dog, we have received a request to auction your username @y2049. Below is the browser information, IP address and TON wallet address. If the auction is successful, the buyer will gain full control of the username, and the above wallet can receive the relevant proceeds. The conversion of the username into a collection is irreversible. If you confirm, please click Confirm.
After clicking Confirm, there will be a security check, which requires that you turn on two-step verification 7 days ago, that your two-step password cannot be changed within 7 days, and that you have logged into Telegram on this device for more than 24 hours. If you meet the above conditions, you can confirm the auction. If you do not meet the above security check requirements, the following interface will appear.
If the requirements are met, you only need to set the minimum starting price and the auction time can be listed.
Let's go to other auctions on Fragment. We see that the prices of USDT USDC in the ongoing username collections are between 140,000 $TON and 180,000 $TON, and the remaining auction time is about 3-4 days. Among them, the username of the US President's Office, potus, has been auctioned for 310,000 US dollars. Click bid to participate in the bidding.
5. How Username Collections Work
Telegram users can make it easy for others to contact them or find their public groups and channels through usernames. In addition to a basic username, you can now assign multiple collectible usernames to each of your accounts and public chats. After auctioning off the username you like, he can use the assets in the wallet in the upper right corner of the Fragment to assign the collection to TG for use. TG's official website provides convenient steps to activate usernames and sort usernames. Username collections can also be re-traded or re-auctioned. This is very easy to understand, just like a user can have many ENS, there is a main ENS address resolution, and at the same time can have other ENS addresses.
6. Token $TON and chain TON chain ⛓️
According to coinmarketcap, TON tokens were launched on August 27, 2021, with a price of 0.52USD, a high of 4.5USD, and currently around 1.8. Currently, there are exchanges such as Ku*Coin Pan*cake Uni*swap OK*X Huo*bi, etc.
TON chain was first developed by the Durov brothers, the founders of Telegram, in 2018. It was also first called Telegram Open Network and is a blockchain infrastructure based on the POS mechanism. The following figure is a comparison with Ethereum and Solana:
Seven, written at the back
Due to space limitations, this article only introduces a beginner’s guide to auctioning user-name collections: Let me write a few observations:
1. Fragment is currently only available in English, which may be the main reason why there is not much discussion in the Chinese community;
2. TG has entered Web3, with a smooth product experience, strong team development capabilities, and a user-friendly interface; it should not be underestimated.
3. Usernames have a natural collection attribute. Currently, good usernames are mainly excellent English words. Due to the username registration rules, numbers cannot be used to start the username, so there may not be much room for 999Club and 10kClub in the conventional domain name speculation. Short domain names and meaningful English names, Web3 names, and brand names are more recognized by the market.
4. The product naturally integrates blockchain and instant messaging software. There seems to be no comparable product on the market, so there is huge room for imagination. TG is open source software with the basic features of Web3, and it is expected to be the king of the future web3 social category.
5. From the perspectives of security mechanism authentication, control of gold-making, and holding costs, we can feel that TG has a complete set of systematic methods to effectively control the problem of "gold-making";
6. Further research will be conducted on $TON, The Open Network and possible investment opportunities;
Reprinting is welcome.