Telegram Gifts 2026: how the market actually works

Telegram launched in-chat collectible gifts in 2024, and within roughly two years they have turned into one of the most liquid sectors of the TON ecosystem. On peak days, upgraded-gift turnover exceeds the entire classic TON NFT market — this is no longer a niche pastime but a real market with market makers, analytics, arbitrageurs, and phishing clones swarming around it. This guide is an attempt at a coherent picture of how that market actually works in 2026.

TL;DR

• Telegram Gifts are bought with Stars and exist in two flavours: regular (locked to the recipient) and upgraded (a TON NFT with three randomly rolled attributes).
• Only upgraded gifts trade. Price is driven by collection supply, attribute-combination rarity, and mint number.
• The 2026 venues: Portals (liquidity), Tonnel (fees + analytics), MRKT (filters). Getgems is the general-purpose TON NFT marketplace where gifts also surface once withdrawn.
• Core risks: Telegram centralisation, floor volatility, phishing through clone bots.
• Profitable angles include cross-venue arbitrage, grail hunting, and collateralising gifts on DAOLama for liquidity without selling.

The rest of the article is the long form for those who want the mechanics and the systemic risks.

Where the market came from

Before October 2024, Telegram had only the most basic Star Gifts: a user bought an icon with Stars and gave it to another user — the icon appeared in the recipient’s profile. The gift could not be transferred further, sold, or withdrawn to a wallet. It was a purely emotional mechanic.

The turning point was the release of upgraded gifts: the option, for additional Stars, to turn a regular gift into a unique NFT with three randomly rolled attributes. Technically, an upgraded gift becomes a TON NFT, which can be:

• transferred to another Telegram user for free (internal transfer);
• withdrawn to a TON wallet (Tonkeeper, MyTonWallet) and traded like any NFT;
• sold on dedicated marketplaces right inside Telegram.

This created the market: upgraded gifts received a digital passport that can be verified, valued, and traded.

Anatomy of an upgraded gift

Every upgraded gift carries the following properties:

• Collection — name («Plush Pepe», «Heart Locket», «Crystal Ball», etc.). The collection cap is fixed: tens of thousands for exclusive drops, millions for mass releases.
• Mint number — sequence in the collection. #1, #100, #1000 typically trade above «ordinary» numbers.
• Model — one of 3–10 appearance variants, each with its own rarity percentage (e.g. base model 40%, gold 5%, silver 2%).
• Backdrop — card background. Often 20–50 variants per collection, rarity from 5% down to 0.1%.
• Symbol — a decorative pattern. Additional rarity layer.

A gift’s «full sheet» is the combination of those four attributes. Secondary-market price is anchored to the rarest of them.

What «grail» means

A grail is a rare combination of two or more attributes. If model «Gold» (5%) coincides with backdrop «Black Hole» (0.5%), joint probability is 0.025%. On a 50 000-piece collection that averages out to roughly 12 such lots in existence. If only 2–3 are listed, the price easily reaches 10–50× floor.

Grail hunters are their own trader class: they watch new listings, filter by attributes, and snipe rare combinations before the seller realises the true rarity. Marketplaces like MRKT grew specifically around this mechanic — filters let you spot underpriced lots faster than holders reprice them.

Market map: where gifts trade

The 2026 upgraded-gift market is split across four venues:

Portals — liquidity

Portals (t.me/portals) — a Telegram-native marketplace opening as a mini-app. Strengths:

• Deepest liquidity on top collections. Bid/ask stand close, spreads often 1–2%.
• Simple UX. TON Connect for wallet auth, TON for settlement, minimum clicks to a trade.
• Floor analytics. 24h/7d/30d charts per collection.

Downsides — higher fee than Tonnel, fewer filters than MRKT. Sufficient for most trades, especially as an entry point.

Tonnel — fees and analytics

Tonnel (@tonnel_network_bot) — the oldest gift marketplace. Strengths:

• Low fees. Materially below Portals — important for arbitrage and big tickets.
• Floor analytics. Charts and volume dynamics; many traders use Tonnel purely as a «terminal».
• Telegram-bot UX. Inline navigation plus a mini-app.

Downsides — simpler UI, thinner order book on long-tail collections.

MRKT — filters

MRKT (@mrkt) — a fast-growing challenger focused on advanced filtering. Strengths:

• Granular filters. «Collection X, model Gold, backdrop ≤ 1%, sort by price» is a default MRKT workflow.
• Modern UI. Closer to a classic NFT marketplace than to a Telegram bot.
• Referral programme. Real money for bringing traders.

Downsides — younger than Portals, less history.

Getgems — general-purpose NFT marketplace

Getgems (getgems.io) is the general TON NFT marketplace. Gifts surface there after withdrawal to a TON wallet. Strengths:

• Web-UI. Convenient for desktop trading and portfolio management.
• Auctions. For rare lots — reserve prices, time-bound sales.
• Broader catalogue. Gifts sit next to TON domains, anonymous numbers, GameFi NFTs.

Downsides — shallower gift liquidity than gift-native venues. Used more for rare lots and portfolio work than for fast turnover.

Trading strategies

1. Cross-venue arbitrage

The simplest play. A gift sits at 50 TON on Portals and 47 TON on Tonnel. You buy on Tonnel and sell on Portals (or wait for convergence and exit with a markup). Per-trade profit is small, but at volume the arb produces steady income.

Constraints — marketplace and network fees. Below a certain ticket size the trade becomes uneconomic. You also need capital to hold matching lots across multiple venues simultaneously.

2. Grail hunting

Monitor new listings through MRKT filters and look for rare attributes priced at the «average» floor by a seller who hasn’t realised the true rarity. Profitable but demanding:

• deep familiarity with each collection’s attributes;
• speed — competition for grails is fierce;
• willingness to hold a rare lot if it doesn’t sell quickly.

3. Flipping new drops

Telegram periodically releases new gift collections. The play — buy regular gifts at launch, upgrade, list immediately on marketplaces. Depends on:

• hype around the release;
• general market mood;
• luck with rolled attributes.

High risk: if the market doesn’t absorb the new collection, floors fall faster than you can sell.

4. Hold + liquidity through DAOLama

The long-term route: buy rare gifts, hold, and when liquidity is needed, collateralise on DAOLama for a TON loan without selling. Gives you cash without losing exposure — but not every collection is whitelisted, and LTV is typically 30–60% of floor.

Risks

Telegram centralisation

The most systemic risk. The gifts themselves are TON NFTs and stay with the holder even if Telegram breaks the market. But 90%+ of the liquidity trades inside Telegram mini-apps. If Telegram changes the rules (higher upgrade fees, withdrawal limits, bans on marketplace bots), a chunk of value evaporates instantly.

Volatility

Top-collection floors swing tens of percent per day. On calm markets it’s moderate; on news or large unlocks it’s brutal. Don’t put more into gifts than you’re willing to lose in a week.

Phishing

Fake «Portals», «Tonnel», «MRKT» bots are a permanent Telegram problem. Connecting to a fake marketplace via TON Connect with an «approve all» signature equals draining every gift from your wallet. Verifying the marketplace through ton.app before each new connection is non-negotiable.

Regulation

The legal status of Telegram gifts as «digital financial assets» is undefined in most jurisdictions, and tax practice is still forming. That doesn’t mean there are no taxes — it means rules may appear retroactively. For sizeable holdings, a tax consult is worth the price.

Where to follow the market

• @GiftChanges — the go-to changelog channel: announcements, supply caps, rolled rarities, release timing.
• Floor charts on Portals/Tonnel — built-in analytics on the venues themselves.
• Telegram channels of major traders — useful insights on specific collections, but filter for conflicts of interest.

Who gift trading is for

Gifts are a speculative segment, not an investment, with high volatility and heavy platform dependence. Suitable for:

• people with existing TON exposure who want to allocate a slice to more active trading;
• those with a good feel for Telegram and meme cycles;
• arbitrageurs with disciplined risk management.

Not suitable as a «first crypto investment» — too many specific risks, and you need foundational knowledge: TON Connect, wallets, phishing defence. If you are just starting out, get the basics and wallet setup down first, and come back to gifts later.

What to read next

• Telegram gift marketplaces 2026: Portals vs Tonnel vs MRKT — detailed venue comparison.
• DAOLama: NFT lending on TON with collateral — how to use gifts as collateral.
• ton.app: the catalogue of TON apps and channels — the ecosystem entry point and a mandatory check before opening a marketplace.

The gift market is young and fast-moving. Six months from now, the fee structure, liquidity leaders, and top-collection roster will look different. This guide is a 2026 snapshot — the principles stay, the numbers should always be verified on the live venues.