🐵 Humans are hardwired to copy others by evolution — for a good reason. Mimicking those around us has been the most efficient survival strategy for millions of years. However, the world is different today. We now live in an age of rapid change — what used to be efficient becomes a recipe for mediocrity and decay ☠️

🥂 Let 2025 be the year we rely on our own opinions — not imposed stereotypes and outdated thought patterns. Only by trusting our instincts and following our own unique paths can we fulfil our potential and make great contributions to the world 🎨

🎆 Have a happy and productive 2025,
everyone! 🚩

- @Durov

Verification from Third Parties and Bot API 8.2

With today's update, official Bots and Mini Apps can verify ✅ users and chats on behalf of other organizations, assigning them a custom badge and a brief description.

This decentralized verification platform proactively prevents spam and misinformation – setting a new safety standard for social platforms 🛡

Additionally, Bot API 8.2 comes with out-of-the-box support for Collectible Gifts 🎁 – allowing Bots and Mini Apps to prepay 🎁 for Gift Upgrades.

Check out the full Bot API 8.2 changelog for more details.

Happy Holidays from the Telegram Team 🎆

Source : 💌💌💌

Gifts that can be upgraded to collectibles

🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁


Source : 💌💌💌

🎁 Launched just three months ago, Telegram gifts have become an internet sensation. This holiday season alone, Telegram users exchanged a record-breaking 20 million gifts 🎁🎁🎁

📰 On January 1st, we introduced the ability to transform limited-edition gifts into unique collectibles. These can be transferred within Telegram and externally as NFTs. Minting a unique gift costs just 25 Stars, which is spent on the TON blockchain fees required to mint the NFT 🎁🎁🎁

🏆 Our artists have designed countless versions of 21 limited-edition gifts and are already working on the next 25. The level of artistic effort invested in this project has been incredible. We got so carried away that, for some gifts, we ended up paying our artists more than the revenue they generated 🎁🎁🎁

💵 I hear that third-party NFT marketplaces are already working on enabling auctions for minted Telegram gifts. It will be exciting to see how this ecosystem evolves 🎁🎁🎁

- @Durov