Telegram is betting big on blockchain tech to introduce new features. The messaging app recently gave users the option to purchase rare usernames by holding an auction on a new platform based on the TON blockchain. Now, it's introducing another interesting blockchain-backed feature that lets you sign-up for the service without a SIM card.

Until now, Telegram required users to provide their phone number to sign-up for the platform. It's doing away with this requirement with the latest update, allowing users to sign up with blockchain-powered anonymous numbers available on the Fragment platform. If you'd like to create a new Telegram account without sharing your phone number, you can head to the Fragment platform and purchase an anonymous number using Toncoins. You can use this number to sign up for the messaging service and get verification codes through Fragment.

As with rare usernames, Telegram is auctioning off phone numbers through the Fragment platform, with the minimum bids going as high as 31,500 Toncoins (approximately $57,600) for vanity numbers. But you can also get a random number for as little as 9 Toncoins (approximately $16), a small price to pay for an additional layer of privacy.

In addition to no-SIM signups, Telegram has also introduced a global auto-delete timer to help users automatically delete all chats after a predefined period, Topics support for groups with 100 members or more, a new Aggressive mode for automated spam filters, temporary QR codes for sharing your Telegram profile, and emoji search on iOS. Furthermore, Telegram's latest update brings detailed storage usage stats on Android, along with new custom and interactive emoji. You can learn more about these changes in Telegram's official announcement post linked below.

Will you purchase an anonymous number to sign up for Telegram? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments section below.


Source: Telegram blog