Telegram Username Trading Hits Record Before Scam Attack
Telegram usernames and virtual numbers were traded at a record price of 1.58 million TON (approximately $2.1 million) for @danbao, setting a new platform record.
Subsequently, @boss was sold for 500,000 USDT, +888 8222 for 520,000 TON (approximately $650,000), and +888 8899 for 423,900 TON. However, hours after the transactions, attackers launched a targeted attack on the Getgems platform using counterfeit USDT, resulting in a Chinese collector losing +888 8321 (worth over $800,000).
Market Mechanism: Buyers, as the main participants, bid high prices for scarce Telegram usernames, driving speculation and an NFT-style trading frenzy. Funds are flowing into the TON ecosystem and platforms like Getgems; sellers and early holders benefit from cashing out, while high-priced buyers and users relying on bot trading face pressure, and scammers profit through counterfeit assets.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Telegram has previously enabled NFT trading of usernames through the Fragment platform. The record sale of 1.58 million TON continues the speculation frenzy for rare usernames in the TON ecosystem for 2024-2025. Early similar +888 series numbers have seen multiple high-price resales and subsequent security incidents, with individuals like Smerkis from former exchanges involved in related traffic/account disputes.
In terms of capital flow, buyers complete on-chain transfers through TON payments and platforms like Getgems, motivated by the potential long-term resale or brand value from the scarcity of usernames. However, attackers exploit counterfeit USDT to bypass verification and directly steal assets, rapidly converting resources from legitimate high-price trades into scam profits, exposing trust vulnerabilities in bot and mini-program trading.
Similar cases include phishing attacks following early high-price registrations of ENS domains and mass thefts triggered by Solana meme coin trading bots; the TON/Telegram ecosystem is currently in a phase of simultaneous explosion of username assetization and scams, marked by an expansion-risk overlay.
Structural Judgment: This fundamentally represents a reconstruction of the industrial chain driven by technological substitution. The NFTization of Telegram usernames shifts the pricing power of scarce digital identities from the traditional domain system to on-chain auctions on the TON blockchain, but counterfeit assets and bot vulnerabilities shift actual control from buyers to attackers. The mechanism lies in the combination of off-chain verification gaps and high liquidity, accelerating the evolution of crypto digital assets from speculative collectibles to high-risk zero-sum games.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
The higher the price, the faster the username becomes a target.
The scarcer the asset, the more concealed the scam entry.
The faster the on-chain transaction, the more expensive the off-chain trust.