The entire Internet has been actively discussing stickers and gifts in Telegram for several weeks now. Users share their opinions about the future of these products: some see excellent opportunities for the development of Telegram in this, while others see a complete collapse.
In this article we will discuss:
1) What kind of gifts and stickers are these?
2) How to buy/sell and exchange gifts?
3) Why have gifts become so popular?
4) How are the prices of gifts and stickers formed?
5) How to get stickers and gifts for free?
6) What is the future of the Telegram ecosystem?
Present
The first gifts appeared on October 5, 2024. Then the first gifts came out, most of them were ordinary and had no restrictions, and they can still be purchased. But two variations of gifts with a limited supply of 100k were also released - a flower and a lollipop, which in the future can be converted into NFT, making them completely unique. It was at that moment that many people began to buy these gifts and in just a day they completely disappeared from the gift shop.
After that, gift collections with limited supply appeared several times. For example, plums in the amount of 5k or Pepe frogs in the amount of 3k. These collections were released on December 1, and the frogs sold out in 9 hours.
At the moment, only very rare gifts with limited supply can be converted into NFT, the conversion price is 25 stars. Later, they promise to add the ability to convert less rare gifts.
Stickers
On December 21, 2024, it was launched Sticker Store inside telegram. Several sticker collections appeared in it. Some were free, but there were also several paid collections:
1) Bored Stickers
2) Blum
3) Dogs OG
4) Fluppy Bird
All but the Blum collection were sold out within 24 hours, and after each sold out, new NFT stickers were released, but with a different design. The speed of buying up a collection mainly depended on how much users liked the visuals, or whether they were related to history (as happened with the frogs), although the limited supply factor also played a role. For example, the Lost Dogs collection was sold out in just 20 minutes.
Now projects are gradually starting to release their collaborations with Telegram. They do this through the Sticker Store, as happened with Blum and Pudgy Penguis (although in this case the collaboration happened only after the release of stickers).
How to buy/sell and exchange gifts/stickers?
It is worth clarifying right away that at the moment it is officially NOT POSSIBLE to sell gifts/stickers, we will talk about this a little below.
Buying gifts
1) Go to your profile
2) Go to the settings tab
3) At the bottom of the application there will be an option to send a gift (to yourself).
Sale
At the moment, it is impossible to sell Telegram stickers; for gifts, bots are created that are not connected to Telegram in any way, in which you can sell gifts, but their safety and reliability are unknown, and after the release of the official marketplace, no one prevents them from disappearing along with your funds and gifts. Be on guard.
Why have gifts and stickers become so popular?
In his performance at The GateWay, co-founder of investment company Kenetic, Jehan Chu, speaking about what will bring success to TON, said:
"The word 'culture' cannot be written without 'cult'."
There is a successful media personality behind the Telegram ecosystem, and people are social beings who follow a strong leader. Pavel Durov is not afraid to create a revolution within Telegram, which is what people willingly follow.
Also, the huge audience of Telegram will soon break the mark of a billion active users, many of whom only in 2024 first saw what crypto is and how it is available to everyone. Users are interested in Pavel's next step and how he implements the idea of gifts and stickers inside Telegram using NFT technology.
How are the prices for gifts and stickers formed?
In his channel, Pavel Durov wrote that at the moment the price is entirely determined by the community's interest in gifts and stickers, and he himself is interested in how this ecosystem will develop further.
The most expensive gifts are plums and frogs. The price of mint was 1000 and 2000 stars. At the moment, resellers are looking for them from users, and the price of some rare frogs starts from $3000. The following conclusions can be made:
1) The price is affected by the limited supply, like the toads with a supply of 3000 pieces.
2) Belonging to a culture. Pepe the Frog is a popular meme that has been around for many years, hence the interest of users in the gift.
3) Rarity. When converting a frog into an NFT, one of several colors would appear with a certain chance, and the NFT description stated the chance of getting such a pattern.
For example, Roxman (SEO Major) received and sold his rare toad for $27000.
How to get stickers and gifts for free?
At the moment, you can only get free gifts from draws in channels/groups/game bots. There are no other ways. Don't fall for the tricks of scammers.
But you can get stickers for free and officially, just go to the application Sticker Store. Sometimes it releases free sticker packs that anyone can pick up.
What is the future of the telegram ecosystem?
As we discussed earlier, Durov is making a revolution, allowing everyone to touch the world of crypto, and making it a little more accessible to the mass user. The idea of gifts and stickers can help open a huge promising market for projects and users, where everyone will find their own benefit.
