Telegram rolls out a new account verification method powered by third-parties, new search filters for private chats, and the ability to turn gifts into NFTs
Ivan Mehta / TechCrunch :
Context & Ripple Effects
Telegram had already expanded beyond consumer messaging with business-account tools for Premium users, including automated greetings and chatbots. The new identity and search features make that broader account layer more usable and potentially more legible to users.
The company had also experimented with blockchain-linked digital identity through collectible usernames on TON. Extending that model to gifts connects social interactions to a more persistent digital-asset format.
First-order effects
- Third-party providers can now participate in verifying Telegram accounts, while users gain more targeted ways to locate content in private chats.
- Gift recipients can convert eligible gifts into NFTs, adding a collectible format alongside Telegram’s existing in-app social features.
Second-order effects
- Verification becomes less solely a platform-administered function: Telegram must rely on provider standards and users must judge what a third-party verification signal means.
- Telegram’s business-account features can become more useful when account identity is easier to establish, while NFT-enabled gifts create another reason for creators and communities to use Telegram-native digital items.
Third-order effects
- If this approach gains adoption, messaging platforms may increasingly separate the policy layer for trust from the parties that supply identity evidence, making verification an ecosystem rather than a single platform badge.
- The combination of account tools, discovery improvements, and tokenized gifts points toward messaging apps operating as broader service platforms; the durability of that shift will depend on whether these features see sustained user use.
The trend: Telegram is converging messaging, business identity, and digital collectibles into a platform layer built around trust and account utility.