TON influencer Lucha and Roxman, co-founder of the marketplace Portals, completed a deal exchanging a Porsche 911 GT3 for 18 rare digital gifts inside Telegram.
In a comment to ForkLog, participants of the deal stated that Roxman had invested about $20,000 in acquiring Telegram gifts, which he then exchanged for a car worth over $350,000.
The idea for the trade evolved through posts and community polls within the crypto space. Users debated the question: “Should digital gifts be traded for a Porsche?”
On August 23, Lucha posted a photo of the car covered with branded wrapping that displayed logos of the game Major, the Telegram messenger, and the digital gifts platform.
https://t.me/luchathoughts/128
“Looks like the joke went too far. Buying tickets to Dubai,”
Roxman wrote in response to the post.
The Rise in Value of Telegram Gifts
The first NFT gifts on the TON blockchain appeared in Telegram at the end of 2022, launched by an independent development team under the name TON Gifts.
On October 5, 2024, Telegram added a feature allowing users to send gifts for Stars—the platform’s internal currency.
Over the past several months, the value of some collections has skyrocketed:
- Plush Pepe: from $30 to $12,000
- Durov’s Cap: from $15 to $2,500
- Swiss Watch: from $1.50 to $190
In April, Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov was gifted Plush Pepe #1, valued at 14,850 TON (around $47,000 at the time of purchase on the secondary market).
In July, rapper Snoop Dogg released a music video called Gifts, dedicated to Telegram gifts, and dropped several NFT collections on TON. They sold out in less than an hour, yielding $12 million in revenue.
According to blockchain analytics platform Dune, the market capitalization of Telegram gifts is about $160 million, with a record daily trading volume reaching $9 million.
Portals’ Success
Telegram gifts are traded across multiple marketplaces, with the largest being Portals. The platform accounts for 50–60% of all trading volumes.
The marketplace offers cashback, a points system, and regular brand collaborations.
“What started as $10 experiments has turned into assets valued at the level of luxury cars. The Telegram ecosystem is growing rapidly, and the pace is only accelerating,”
project representatives said.
Roxman launched Portals in May 2025. He is also the creator of the social game Major, which has attracted 70 million users. The project’s token, MAJOR, is currently traded on Bybit, OKX, Bitget, MEXC, and other exchanges.
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