Market for Telegram Gifts reaches $292M

In January 2025, Telegram began releasing limited-edition collectible gifts on its platform, allowing users to mint and trade their unique blockchain-based items on TON. These collectibles are deeply integrated into the Telegram app and its interfaces, where owners can display gifts by their name in chats and on their profile, transfer gifts to contacts, or to browse and buy gifts from other users via an in-app marketplace.

The exclusive artwork and limited nature of many collections lead to massive increases in value, with iconic items like Plush Pepes now worth over 320 times more than their original price. Others such as Durov’s Cap increased by more than 94 times, and a recent drop of gifts for Telegram’s 12th birthday sold out in minutes — generating more than $11 million in total sales.

As of November 2025, analysts at Getgems, a portfolio company of TOP and the largest open NFT marketplace on TON, studied onchain data from Dune and concluded the market capitalization of Telegram Gifts to be $128 million, with annual sales volume reaching $292 million.

These metrics continue to grow with each new release, resulting in over 2 million users owning close to 9 million gifts — and creating collaborations with popular figures and organizations such as the rapper Snoop Dogg, martial artist Khabib Nurmagomedov and the UFC.

“A unique digital economy is forming within Telegram, where gifts serve a dual function: they evoke emotions while showcasing interests and personal status. The market segment of Telegram Gifts is growing rapidly, with active secondary trading and the formation of collectible series, opening up new opportunities for users. Gifts are becoming not just profile decorations, but expressions of status and digital culture,” notes the Getgems press service.