A Porsche 911 GT3 has been exchanged for 18 rare Telegram “#1 Gifts” — a deal valued at more than $350,000. What might sound unbelievable at first is in fact another sign of how quickly Teleg
A Porsche 911 GT3 has been exchanged for 18 rare Telegram “#1 Gifts” — a deal valued at more than $350,000. What might sound unbelievable at first is in fact another sign of how quickly Telegram’s gift economy is growing.
The swap involved TON influencer Lucha, owner of the Porsche, and Roxman, co-founder of the Portals marketplace who has been personally acknowledged by Pavel Durov. The idea started as a community poll — “Should a Porsche really be traded for digital gifts?” — and eventually turned into reality. Even Durov himself reacted to the debate.
Crypto trader and analyst Renzo (@renzosalpha) called the deal “a symbolic milestone for the whole TON ecosystem.”
“We’ve seen NFTs change the market in 2021. Now Telegram gifts show the same kind of energy — but built right into the app with millions of users already onboard,” Renzo noted.
Telegram gifts are limited digital collectibles, officially launched by Telegram and tradable as NFTs on the TON blockchain. Their growth has been explosive: market capitalization now sits around $160M, with record daily volumes of over $9M — at times surpassing Solana and Ethereum NFT activity.
Some of the early returns have been staggering:
– Plush Pepe: from $30 to $12,000+
– Durov’s Cap: $15 to $2,500
– Swiss Watch: $1.5 to $190
Renzo believes these numbers explain why the Porsche deal isn’t just a stunt:
“When digital collectibles inside a messenger are worth supercars, you know the trend is real,” he said.
With celebrities like Snoop Dogg launching their own gifts and new marketplaces competing for volume, the Telegram gift ecosystem is quickly becoming one of the most dynamic sectors of Web3.
