Telegram has applied for its own top-level domain. Founder Pavel Durov said approval would give the app's one billion users a personal web address like yourname.gram.
Durov posted the news on X. The filing entered ICANN's 2026 round, the first such window since 2012.
What the Telegram .gram Domain Would Unlock, and When
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) governs the internet's address system. Its 2026 application window closed on August 12 after 15 weeks.
ICANN counted more than 1,600 primary applications in that round. Applicants filed a further 1,100 requests for backup strings. Therefore, .gram now waits in a crowded queue.
Durov built the pitch around Telegram usernames. Holders could claim yourname.gram, then publish an interactive site that Telegram hosts. Those usernames already work as identity across the app. A matching web address would carry that handle beyond chat.
Moreover, he promised that a single artificial intelligence prompt would generate those pages. The plan stretches Telegram's TON blockchain push from payments into web publishing. Telegram would run the hosting itself. That setup keeps users off outside providers and inside the app's orbit.
Brand top-level domains already exist, and Google and Amazon run their own. Telegram's version would differ, since it opens the space to ordinary account holders.
Pavel Durov. Source: XTelegram has applied for the .gram domain zone.
— Pavel Durov (@durov) August 18, 2026
If the application is approved by ICANN, a billion Telegram users could get their own second-level domains — yourname.gram.
Users would be able to set up their interactive websites hosted by Telegram — with one prompt ✨
ICANN has approved nothing yet. The body will publish the list of cleared strings by mid-October. Evaluation, contention resolution, and contracting follow. Those stages can take months.
Durov cannot set a launch date, because ICANN controls the schedule. On that path, a working .gram address looks unlikely before 2027. He also gave no word on whether every account would receive one for free.
GRAM Trades 84% Below Its Record
Gram (GRAM), the token Durov rebranded from Toncoin in June, changed hands near $1.32. It has shed about 35% over the past 90 days, though it edged up 0.7% on the day.
That level sits 84% under the record high of $8.25 from June 2024. The token still holds a $3.65 billion market value and ranks 25th by size. Its full trading range runs from $0.52 to $8.25.
Gram Price Performance. Source: BeInCrypto Markets So far, traders have shown little conviction since the post. The ecosystem keeps widening regardless. Telegram pledged a native non-custodial wallet inside every app this summer, and it now runs the network's largest validator.
Meanwhile, Durov fights on another front. Russia charged him with facilitating terrorism in July, and he rejected Moscow's surveillance demands in a public reply.
Durov spent 2026 expanding the Telegram ecosystem on his own terms. A green light would hand every user a personal corner of the web, built from a single prompt.
Read the Original story Telegram .gram Domain Bid Could Give 1 Billion Users a Website in One Prompt by Phil Haunhorst at beincrypto.com