The Singapore-based fund invests in an uncommon crypto asset: fancy Telegram usernames, together with crypto-related usernames like @ether And @crypt. Telegram’s viewers continues to rise, as does the viewers of the TON blockchain used to resell usernames, so the usernames might probably change into extra helpful over time.
V3V Ventures additionally has extra conventional enterprise capital investments. It invested in startups corresponding to BitLayer (Layer-2 answer for Bitcoin) and CrossCurve (enabling cross-chain liquidity on Curve). However this yr it entered the off-the-beaten-path Telegram username market.
Telegram let its customers resell usernames in 2022 and deployed them as NFTs on the TON blockchain, which presents deep integration with Telegram. So buying a username means you personal a corresponding NFT.
Some individuals purchase Telegram usernames for useless functions: proudly owning a brief username makes an impression. Some purchase an appropriate username for his or her venture. However these are normally individuals who solely want one or two usernames, and who do not assume a lot about reselling them.
V3V Ventures had a unique technique. It acknowledged an asset that might change into extra helpful over time and determined it was funding. So it acquired a complete listing of usernames. Probably the most crypto-related are @ether and @cryp. However there’s a complete host of others, starting from @commerce to @anime.
As an alternative of merely hoarding the usernames and doing nothing, V3V used them to create dwell public Telegram channels. @crypt And @ether had been each linked to the identical channel that posted the crypto information (simply the overall market information with out a sensationalist ‘purchase it now’ strategy). Subsequently, the fund attracted greater than 5 million subscribers to the channel. One thing comparable occurred with different acquired usernames like @commerce. So as an alternative of passively ready for the asset worth to rise, the fund has turned it right into a venture that builds an viewers (which can also be helpful).
Telegram’s person base has been rising steadily for years and now reaches virtually 1 billion MAU. TON blockchain can also be on the rise this yr, with notable initiatives corresponding to @Main. So if the usernames are in excessive demand now and the viewers continues to develop, that might possible create much more demand. Clearly, NFA DYOR: that is not recommendation to right away purchase usernames, it is simply an statement that there’s a market on the market that most individuals do not even discover.
