Telegram .gram Domain Bid Could Reshape Web3 Identity

Telegram is trying to turn its usernames into web addresses. The Telegram .gram domain application entered ICANN’s 2026 round, potentially giving the app’s one billion users addresses such as yourname.gram if the bid clears the approval process.

Telegram .gram Domain Faces Long Approval Road

The application comes from Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who said users could claim matching .gram addresses and publish interactive websites hosted by Telegram. The idea is pretty straightforward, usernames already serve as identities inside Telegram, so why not make them usable on the wider web?

Durov also said a single AI prompt could generate those pages. Telegram would handle hosting, keeping the experience inside its own ecosystem while extending its blockchain ambitions beyond payments.

But there’s a catch. ICANN closed its 2026 application window on August 12 after 15 weeks, receiving more than 1,600 primary applications and another 1,100 backup string requests. Approval is not guaranteed.

Telegram’s Web Push Still Has No Launch Date

ICANN is expected to publish cleared strings by mid October, followed by evaluation, contention resolution and contracting. Those stages could take months, meaning a working .gram address appears unlikely before 2027. 

There’s also no confirmation that every Telegram account would receive a .gram address for free. So for now, it’s a proposal waiting in a very crowded queue.

GRAM Token Remains Far Below Its Record

The market has not exactly thrown a party either. GRAM trades around $1.32, down roughly 35% over 90 days and about 84% below its $8.25 record high from June 2024. Its market value remains around $3.65 billion.

Still, the ecosystem continues expanding through a planned native non custodial wallet and Telegram’s role in the network’s validator infrastructure. 

Whether that activity eventually changes Telegram .gram domain prospects remains unclear. For now, the biggest hurdle is not adoption, it is getting the  domain approved in the first place.