# Telegram Wants Your Username to Be a Website - But It Is Not the Only One Who Applied for .gram **URL:** \ **Category:** News & Articles\ **Tags:** technology, eye-opening\ **Created:** [August 24, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/telegram-wants-your-username-to-be-a-website-but-it-is-not-the-only-one-who-applied-for-gram/325023 "2026-08-24T17:02:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![princekv003](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/princekv003/32/166480_2.png) [@princekv003](https://onehack.st/u/princekv003)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/telegram-wants-your-username-to-be-a-website-but-it-is-not-the-only-one-who-applied-for-gram/325023/1 "2026-08-24T17:02:44Z")
Durov says a billion Telegram users could soon own **yourname.gram** — a website built from one prompt. Every outlet reprinted that. **Nobody checked the paperwork.** Three things are sitting in it. 👇 * * * ### 🥇 Telegram is not the only applicant A Malta registry, **[Link Freedom Group](https://lfg.link/)**, published its entire filing early — **316 strings** , the largest on record. `.gram` is on the list. Filed under **lifestyle** , suggested uses: > `photo.gram` · `dia.gram` · `weight.gram` Same four letters. Zero reference to Telegram. 🎯 * * * ### 🚫 And he can’t just buy them out In 2012, contested names were settled privately — loser takes a payout, walks away. **That route is banned this round.** ([Applicant Guidebook](https://newgtldprogram-2026-agb.icann.org/en/7-module-3-application-submission.html)) What’s left is an **ICANN auction** , where the money goes to ICANN — not to the loser. 💰 ⚖ **Uneven fight:** Link Freedom is spread across 316 strings. Telegram staked **one word** — the back half of its own name. * * * ### ™️ “GRAM” already belongs to someone else To lock every name to a Telegram account, the bid needs a **.Brand** status. That requires a **registered trademark, owned by the applicant, issued before filing**. ([ICANN criteria](https://newgtldprogram.icann.org/en/application-rounds/round2/2026-round-general/application-evaluation/faqs/brand-tld-eligibility/what-criteria-must-an-application-meet-to-pass-the-brand-tld-eligibility-evaluation)) Here’s the history 🍿 - **2018** — Telegram sues **Lantah LLC** over the GRAM mark. Wins. - **2020** — SEC kills the $1.7bn token sale. Telegram **drops its own case** and tells the court it’s abandoning the mark. - **Pays Lantah [$618,240](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.326496/gov.uscourts.cand.326496.86.0.pdf)** in fees. - **Today** — USPTO: **GRAM · Reg. 7697652 · owner Lantah LLC · REGISTERED** ✅ ([record](https://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=91243046&pty=OPP)) Telegram let go of the word. Someone else picked it up. 🤏 * * * ### ⚡ Why he wants his own registry anyway **13 July.** US Treasury sanctions a VPN service and lists five web addresses. Four belong to the VPN. The fifth is `t.me/FirstVPNService` — **a page on someone else’s platform.** A registry can’t switch off one page. So it killed the whole domain. > 🌍 Every channel link, invite code, bot and wallet link — **dark for 19 hours.** Durov had to ask on X what happened to his own links. Then he bought **t.you** as a spare. ([TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/14/telegrams-shortlink-domain-is-back-online-after-day-long-suspension/) · [The Register](https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/07/16/telegram-shortlinks-knocked-offline-over-sanctioned-vpn-connection/5271964)) 🇲🇪 `.me` is Montenegro’s — but it’s run by **two American companies** , and it also carries PayPal, WordPress and Meta short links. * * * ### 🗓 Dates to watch | When | What | | --- | --- | | **Mid-Sept** | ICANN names the Reveal Day date | | **October** | 🔥 **Reveal Day** — who applied for what, finally public | | **+14 days** | Applicants may swap to a backup string | | **November** | String Confirmation Day | | **Late 2027+** | Earliest possible launch | > **⚠️ What owning .gram would NOT fix** > > 🏛 A domain ending is run **under contract with ICANN, a California corporation.** Owning the registry moves the decision to a different desk — not to a different legal system. > > 📦 What it _does_ fix is blast radius: a sanctions listing would hit one name instead of taking down everything above it. > > 🔒 And “your own domain” is doing heavy lifting. If Telegram runs the registry, your name lives inside a namespace Telegram controls. Nothing says it could ever be transferred out — and if Telegram stops recognising your account, the address stops working. > > The rival CEO made the point by accident, justifying his own bid: users _“still don’t truly own their place on the internet.”_ > > 🇮🇳 **Already under the microscope:** in early July, India’s IT ministry asked Telegram how it stops usernames being used for phishing, fake support desks and investment fraud — and why the feature should continue. Turning those same usernames into permanent websites doesn’t answer that. * * * **Bottom line** 👉 `yourname.gram` isn’t a feature, it’s an application — with a rival on the same four letters, no way to pay them off, and the trademark in a third party’s hands. Mark **October**. 📌 _(Unrelated but often confused: Toncoin renamed itself Gram on 15 June after an 81.22% vote. Same coin, new label — nothing to do with this.)_ ---
**Author:** ![system](https://onehack.st/user_avatar/onehack.st/system/32/165705_2.png) [@system](https://onehack.st/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://onehack.st/t/telegram-wants-your-username-to-be-a-website-but-it-is-not-the-only-one-who-applied-for-gram/325023/2 "2026-08-24T17:02:55Z")
> [@princekv003](#): > > Durov says a billion Telegram users could soon own yourname.gram — a website built from one prompt. Every outlet reprinted that. Nobody checked the p… **🆙 The Core-Community team has improved the post above using AI.**