Telegram NFT gifts: what they are, how to get them and where to sell

Gifts on Telegram started as a cute little thing: send a friend a teddy bear or a cake for Stars, and that’s it. Then some gifts got an “upgrade” option and turned into NFTs you can sell.

Regular vs collectible gifts

• Regular — just a picture on your profile. You can show it, hide it or convert it to Stars, but it doesn’t live on a blockchain.
• Collectible (upgraded) — an NFT on the TON blockchain. It has a number and random traits: model, pattern, backdrop. The rarer the traits, the higher the price.

How a gift becomes an NFT

A limited gift can be upgraded for Stars. After that it gets a unique number and a set of traits. Important: it’s irreversible, you can’t turn it back into a regular gift. And not every gift can be upgraded — mass-market ones usually can’t.

Where they’re sold

• Right in Telegram and on Fragment, the official marketplace.
• On third-party NFT marketplaces on TON, such as Getgems.

Payments are in Gram (formerly Toncoin). You can top up your Telegram wallet through Walt — more in the article what is Walt.

Is it worth trying to make money on it

Some people resell rare gifts at a profit, but it’s a collectibles market: prices jump around, and demand can disappear. Buy what you actually like, and don’t put your last money into it hoping to flip it.

How to avoid scammers

• Don’t hand your gift to a “middleman” in DMs. Use the official marketplaces.
• Check the website address, especially if you’re asked to “connect your wallet to receive a gift”.
• Someone says “your gift is worth a lot, let’s appraise it”? It’s almost always a scam.

More rules in the article how to use a wallet safely. And if you want to know what gifts are bought with in the first place, start with Telegram Stars.