Telegram users can now list their usernames on Fragment for free without placing a starting bid:
• Once listed, the username will remain available for auction for an unlimited time – until the first bid is placed. • A 7-day auction starts as soon as anyone places the first bid. • After the auction ends, the platform fee and a one-time conversion fee will be deducted from the proceeds.
Telegram users can now list their usernames on Fragment for free without placing a starting bid:
• Once listed, the username will remain available for auction for an unlimited time – until the first bid is placed. • A 7-day auction starts as soon as anyone places the first bid. • After the auction ends, the platform fee and a one-time conversion fee will be deducted from the proceeds.
The channel appears to be part of the broader information war that has developed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin has paid Russian TikTok influencers to push propaganda, according to a Vice News investigation, while ProPublica found that fake Russian fact check videos had been viewed over a million times on Telegram. Additionally, investors are often instructed to deposit monies into personal bank accounts of individuals who claim to represent a legitimate entity, and/or into an unrelated corporate account. To lend credence and to lure unsuspecting victims, perpetrators usually claim that their entity and/or the investment schemes are approved by financial authorities. In view of this, the regulator has cautioned investors not to rely on such investment tips / advice received through social media platforms. It has also said investors should exercise utmost caution while taking investment decisions while dealing in the securities market. Such instructions could actually endanger people — citizens receive air strike warnings via smartphone alerts. At the start of 2018, the company attempted to launch an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) which would enable it to enable payments (and earn the cash that comes from doing so). The initial signals were promising, especially given Telegram’s user base is already fairly crypto-savvy. It raised an initial tranche of cash – worth more than a billion dollars – to help develop the coin before opening sales to the public. Unfortunately, third-party sales of coins bought in those initial fundraising rounds raised the ire of the SEC, which brought the hammer down on the whole operation. In 2020, officials ordered Telegram to pay a fine of $18.5 million and hand back much of the cash that it had raised.
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