Telegram pushes .gram domain into digital identity

• Telegram has applied to ICANN to operate the .gram top-level domain for its users.
• If approved, users could register addresses such as alice.gram and create websites through Telegram.
• The proposal still requires ICANN approval, with no launch date confirmed.

Telegram has applied to ICANN for the .gram top-level domain, according to founder Pavel Durov.

If approved, the plan could let Telegram users register second-level domains such as alice.gram.

Durov said users could also create interactive websites hosted by Telegram using a single prompt.

The company has not disclosed pricing, allocation rules, hosting technology or when registrations could begin.

ICANN opened its latest new generic top-level domain application window on April 30 and closed submissions on August 12.

The proposed .gram system would use conventional internet domain infrastructure rather than blockchain-based naming, based on the details disclosed by Durov.

The Gram name also returned to Telegram's wider blockchain strategy after Toncoin was renamed Gram (CRYPTO:GRAM) following a community vote in June.