Within thirty minutes of launch, Snoop Dogg‘s nearly one million digital collectibles on Telegram had vanished into the ether—or rather, into the digital wallets of enthusiastic collectors who collectively parted with approximately $12 million for the privilege of owning pixelated representations of cannabis leaves, cartoon beagles, and vintage automobiles.
The collection, featuring designs inspired by the rap mogul’s iconic aesthetic, included digital swag bags and marijuana-themed artwork alongside anthropomorphic beagles—because apparently nothing says “investment grade asset” quite like a cartoon dog wearing sunglasses. These digital gifts, which enhance user profiles on Telegram, represented the messaging platform’s first celebrity digital collectible event, setting records for both speed and volume in what one might generously call the democratization of overpriced JPEGs.
The democratization of overpriced JPEGs has arrived, complete with cartoon beagles sporting sunglasses as investment-grade assets.
The timing proves particularly intriguing given widespread declarations of the NFT market’s demise. Yet here we find nearly a billion Telegram users integrated into an ecosystem powered by The Open Network (TON) blockchain, which originated from Telegram before legal complications necessitated its transfer to an open-source community.
The collectibles were initially sold and registered internally on Telegram, with official minting on TON scheduled for twenty-one days post-launch—a curious delay that suggests either careful planning or strategic procrastination. Unlike traditional financial systems, these blockchain-based transactions eliminate intermediaries and provide complete accessibility without requiring paperwork or institutional approval.
Snoop Dogg’s promotional campaign leveraged both nostalgia and novelty, releasing a themed music video titled “Gifts” that nodded to his 2004 hit “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” This celebrity endorsement follows Snoop’s decade-long crypto journey, which began with accepting Bitcoin for album purchases back in 2013. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s active endorsement on official channels underscored the platform’s commitment to Web3 integration, while TON blockchain representatives proclaimed this the potential start of a “new NFT narrative.”
The success challenges conventional wisdom about celebrity-backed digital assets, demonstrating that massive demand persists despite market skepticism. Post-minting, these collectibles will enable secondary market trading and auctions between Telegram users, providing verifiable ownership and scarcity through blockchain technology. The broader market context reveals encouraging signs, with NFT sales increasing by 78% in Q2 despite overall trading volume declining.
Whether this represents genuine innovation or simply effective marketing wrapped in blockchain terminology remains debatable. What seems indisputable is that thirty minutes sufficed to transform digital ephemera into $12 million in revenue, suggesting that reports of the NFT market’s death may have been greatly exaggerated.
