Key Takeaways
- Telegram’s digital Valentine’s Day gifts have sold out in a matter of hours.
- The gifts made a combined $5 million in sales.
- Telegram’s embrace of crypto has continued to see success.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced nine digital gifts to celebrate Valentine’s Day sold out in a few hours, making a combined $5 million in sales.
The success of the gifts, four of which could be minted into unique NFTs, has highlighted the appetite for Telegram’s foray into digital collectibles.
Telegram Valentine Gifts Sell Out
On Friday, Feb. 14, Durov announced on Telegram that he had released nine special Valentine’s Day gifts after receiving thousands of requests to release more following their launch in October.
Just six minutes after the announcement, the 2000-piece Heart collection sold out at $200 each, totaling $400,000 in sales.
The 15,000-piece Loot Bag collection sold out in 24 minutes at around $50 each, totaling $750,000 in sales. These were part of Telegram’s new NFT feature and can be minted to make a unique piece of art.
All of the Ring collection was gone within an hour. 35,000 pieces were sold at $20 each, totaling another $700,000 in sales.
“All nine Valentine’s gifts sold out within a few hours, totaling over $5M,” Durov wrote in a Telegram update.
“We’ll have to release more — can’t have our American users waking up to empty shelves,” he added.
Telegram’s NFT Update
In Telegram’s first update of 2025, the messaging app introduced a new NFT gift feature that allows users to transform digital gifts into unique collectibles.
Once upgraded, these gifts can be shared, traded, and auctioned on NFT platforms.
After paying a small fee to upgrade gifts on Telegram Stars, users can unlock personalization options, such as unique icons and background colors.
The new update adds another layer to Telegram’s Web3 offerings, which have increasingly targeted users interested in digital ownership.
Increased Security
This year’s upgrade also addressed rising concerns of misinformation and impersonation on the messenger app.
Telegram announced it expanded its verification system by allowing third-party organizations to verify accounts on its platform.
Accounts verified by external services are now labeled with extra verifications, distinguishing them from the traditional checkmarks Telegram assigns to public figures and organizations.
This aims to provide users with an extra layer of certainty when interacting with verified accounts.
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
