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Telegram To Auction Off Usernames Via Blockchain-based Platform (theblock.co) 20

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Would you pay for a username on social media? Telegram is hoping yes. From a report: The messaging app is soon to launch a username auction platform on The Open Network (TON) blockchain, the company said in an official channel on Thursday. Telegram founder Pavel Durov revealed the project in August, citing inspiration from the success of a recent TON auction for their wallet usernames. Some, including "casino.ton," sold for over $200,000.

"If TON has been able to achieve these results, imagine how successful Telegram with its 700 million users could be if we put reserved @ usernames, group and channel links for auction," he said. But Durov isn't stopping there. "Other elements of the Telegram ecosystem, including channels, stickers or emoji, could later also become part of this marketplace," he added. Paying for usernames isn't new. Over half a million people have paid for usernames on Ethereum through the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), according to Non Fungible's market tracker. It's not just a web3 phenomenon either. It's becoming harder and harder to get the desired username on platforms like Twitter and Instagram and some people are going to great lengths to obtain them.
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Telegram To Auction Off Usernames Via Blockchain-based Platform More

Telegram To Auction Off Usernames Via Blockchain-based Platform

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  • Filter Posts by Rating Missing (Score:3)

    by crunchy_one ( 1047426 ) on Friday October 21, 2022 @11:04AM (#62986099)
    What's up, Slashdot? The sliders that just yesterday allowed me to filter posts by rating are gone. If this is not a glitch, then I'm going to be gone, too.
    • It looks like Slashdot gremlins. Yesterday, the 'Reply to This', 'Share' links and mod dropdowns were missing from most posts. Today, they're back again.

    • You're probably just getting hung up on their shitty job ads timing out and fucking up the page load. Try blackholing partner-api.jobbio.com in your hosts file and see if all of a sudden things start working again.

      Leave it to Slashdot to not only festoon their site with huge annoying ads, but also allow the shitty server that they get their ads from to break the functionality of the site.

  • This is a blockchain for ownership of a centrally managed dataset. It's a database with extra pointless steps...

    At a time when 'blockchain' buzz has significantly evaporated

    • We need to replace the word "blockchain" with "git repo".

    • Well, the point is the money they'll raise, and If they do it correctly, continue to raise by people selling and buying these dumb things. Could it have been done just with a centralized mysql server. Yeah, of freaking course. Why not do it that way? Eh, hype? Infrastructure already exists for the blockchain. Maybe they're saving $20 a month in colo costs? They thought it would make them leet.

  • Can't reply. (Score:4, Informative)

    by Petersko ( 564140 ) on Friday October 21, 2022 @11:14AM (#62986139)

    Sorry to clutter a post with a technical question, but am I being punished for being an idiot by not having "reply" available on most (but not all) comments?

    • I would mod up if I had points. If you think of crypto currencies as internet worms that pay you to run them, then they have all sorts of interesting possibilities. A worse eBay is not one of them.

    • No, just the standard Slashdot caretaker incompetence. Black hole partner-api.jobbio.com with your host file or DNS blocklist and you'll be back to a functional Slashdot in no time. ... well, as functional as Slashdot usually is with their total disdain for non-ASCII character sets, constant duplication of stories, and lameness filter that blocks legitimate comments but still allows through nazi ascii art.

  • Expensive domain names can -very- rarely pay back. Owning something like sex.com has proven to be super valuable. But 99.9999% of domain names are nothing now that most people find their destination via search and all the companies have acquired their brand name one way or another.

    Telegram names? Ugh. I have a telegram account. Technically I am one of those 700m users. I haven't opened the app in 2+ years and then only used it for a telegram-only sales item I wanted.

    Next up I'll pay for a cool discor

  • The first blockchain based sale that increases its value instead of falling past one percent of its initial sale price? I'm so excited I have to ... go wash my hair...

  • So this is like the current market for accounts with rare equipment and special abilities . . . and it's just the username? I think The Telegram just went for the win on the price-to-value of gaming's free-to-play, pay-to-win structure.

    Damn. Well played.

    • I knew as soon as they shoved ads into telegram that it was starting into the slow death spiral of all social media. This is just the next step.

      • I knew as soon as they shoved ads into telegram that it was starting into the slow death spiral of all social media. This is just the next step.

        The sad, sad part about ADs are they are the same as bad behavior in:
        Recruiters
        Real Estate Agents

        If it didn't work (a meaningful number of people click and generate revenue) then it wouldn't reinforce the bad behavior.

        Not enough people truly "vote with their wallet" - which is odd, because, at least in the US, many are 'single issue voters'.

  • How much for Donald Trump? Or Oprah Winfrey?

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