Short version: a regular gift is a souvenir. An upgraded gift is a TON NFT. The distinction is fundamental because it determines everything downstream — whether you can sell it, which wallet you need, how price forms, and why a secondary market exists at all. This article is a technical breakdown of the upgrade mechanic and why it is built the way it is.
TL;DR
- Regular gift — Telegram’s collectible sticker, tied to the receiver’s collection, non-transferable and non-tradeable.
- Upgraded gift — a tokenised version of a regular gift, TEP-62 NFT on TON, tradeable on marketplaces.
- Upgrade = three randomised attributes (backdrop, symbol, model) + NFT mint.
- Upgrade cost is paid in Telegram Stars or TON; varies per gift.
- Upgrade is irreversible — you cannot return the gift to regular form.
- Most upgrades are economically unfavourable — attribute draws are random and common combos sell just above floor.
Regular gift: what it technically is
Telegram gifts in their default form are part of the Telegram Stars economy. Bought via @GiftsBot or directly inside a chat for Stars. The recipient sees them in their profile as collectible stickers.
Technically a regular gift:
- Lives on Telegram servers, not on a blockchain.
- Is bound to a specific recipient — cannot be transferred to another user or withdrawn.
- Has limited series for most collections (e.g. “5000 ever”), creating collectible value.
- Has no unique attributes — all instances of one series look identical (just separate copies of one issue).
A regular gift exists in the legal and economic field of Telegram as a service — not in a blockchain.
Upgraded gift: the move to NFT
Holding a regular gift, the owner has an upgrade option. This goes through @GiftsBot or the Wallet-in-Telegram interface. Steps:
- Open your gift collection in Wallet/chat.
- Pick a specific instance.
- Tap “Upgrade,” pay the upgrade cost (in Stars or TON).
- Telegram runs the process: random draw of three attributes, mint of an NFT on TON.
- A new token appears on the owner’s wallet. The old regular gift “disappears” from the collection.
From this moment, you no longer have a gift-sticker — you have a TEP-62 standard NFT. You can:
- Transfer it to an external TON wallet (Tonkeeper, MyTonWallet).
- Sell it on a marketplace (Portals, Tonnel, MRKT).
- Gift it to another user as an NFT.
- Use it as collateral on DAOlama (for collections with recognised liquidity).
- Display it in Telegram as the “evolved” gift form — it still shows in your collection, but with a unique look.
Attributes: what exactly is randomised
During upgrade, Telegram generates three attributes:
Backdrop
The colour or gradient scheme of the gift’s background. Typically a collection ships 20-25 backdrop variants with drop frequencies from 0.5% to 5%.
Sample names: “Aquamarine,” “Sapphire,” “Crimson Ember” — the exact set is defined by the collection team.
Symbol
A decorative pattern or emblem layered onto the background or undercoat. Usually also 20-25 variants with a similar frequency distribution.
Model
The actual look of the gift figure itself. This is the highest-level attribute — it changes the entire geometry and material of the object. A collection typically ships 5-15 model variants.
Full rarity = product
The chance of getting a specific instance with all three rare attributes:
P(instance) = P(backdrop) × P(symbol) × P(model)
If backdrop is 1%, symbol 2%, model 5%, full probability for that instance in one upgrade ≈ 0.001%. That is why “grails” in large collections sell at multiples of hundreds above floor.
Upgrade cost: where Stars/TON go
When you pay for an upgrade, funds split:
- Upgrade fee proper — fixed per collection, goes to Telegram and/or the collection team.
- TON NFT mint cost — network fee + mint-contract fee (usually small, ~0.1-0.2 TON).
- Sometimes — marketplace/infrastructure fee, if the upgrade is initiated via a third-party UI.
Exact price changes over time and per collection — Telegram revises pricing periodically. At time of writing, the upgrade range is wide: from tens to hundreds of Stars.
iStars vs TON — which is cheaper
When upgrade can be paid in either Stars or TON, the TON price is usually slightly better at effective rate. But Stars are sometimes bought via Telegram Premium bonus programmes, which can flip the math. Compare both before paying.
Why regulars don’t trade: technical reasons
It is not “Telegram’s decision to ban trading” — it is a consequence of architecture:
- A regular gift lives on Telegram servers as a database record. Moving a record from one account_id to another without Telegram’s infrastructure permission is impossible.
- A regular gift has no on-chain representation — there is nothing “to transfer on a blockchain.”
- The Telegram API does not expose a transfer function for regular gifts between users. Only the Telegram platform itself can change “ownership” (which sometimes happens — e.g. via auto-exchange events Telegram announces from time to time).
Upgraded gifts, by contrast, live as TON NFTs — public smart contracts with open transfer logic. Telegram does not control an already-minted upgraded gift.
Comparison table
| Parameter | Regular | Upgraded |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | Telegram servers | TON blockchain |
| Uniqueness | No (all same in series) | Yes (3 random attributes) |
| Transfer between users | No | Yes |
| Marketplace sale | No | Yes |
| Collateral for loans | No | Yes (DAOlama) |
| Withdrawal to external wallet | No | Yes |
| Standard | Telegram internal | TEP-62 NFT |
| Price | Fixed at purchase | Market-driven (floor) |
| Use case | Social (gifting) | Social + trading |
Upgrade economics: when it makes sense
Whether to upgrade depends on:
1. Current collection floor on marketplaces. If collection floor is 5 TON and upgrade costs ~3 TON, you have a 50% chance to “break even” by selling at floor. But the market is not that simple.
2. Attribute distribution. If a collection has high variability (many model variants, many backdrops, many symbols), the chance of rolling something valuable is higher. But floor on such collections is usually lower too.
3. Personal goal. Want an NFT for your profile and social exposure — upgrade makes sense. Want to earn — it is a negative-expectation lottery for most collections.
Rule of thumb: for most mass collections, upgrade expectation is negative. Otherwise arbitrageurs would have instantly automated upgrades and squeezed the “spread” to zero.
!This is not a get-rich scheme
Upgrade is not “buy regular for 100 Stars, upgrade for 50, sell for 1000.” Most upgraded instances sell at 1-3x of upgrade cost. Rare combinations are genuinely expensive but the odds are single-digit percent or lower. Standard lottery-mechanic caveats apply.
What changes after upgrade: for the owner
Post-upgrade you get:
- In your Telegram collection — a new “evolved” version of the gift with a unique look.
- On your TON wallet (via Wallet integration) — a new NFT token.
- Ability to open Portals, Tonnel or MRKT and see your lot in the collection’s order book, with the attributes you rolled.
- Ability to withdraw the NFT to any external TON wallet using standard NFT commands.
When you sell the NFT, the Telegram-collection display automatically transfers to the new owner.
Practical checklist before upgrading
- Checked the current collection floor on 2-3 marketplaces.
- Understand the upgrade is irreversible.
- Comfortable losing the upgrade cost — it is a negative-EV lottery for most collections.
- Have a TON wallet linked for storing the upgraded NFT.
- Know how to read attributes of the rolled lot (see rarity tiers).
- Understand tax consequences — selling an upgraded gift is a taxable event (see tax guide).
Further reading
- Telegram Gifts 2026: how the market works — base market picture.
- Gift marketplaces: Portals/Tonnel/MRKT — where to trade upgraded lots.
- Gift rarity tiers: rare/epic/legendary — how to read attribute rarity.
- Flipping strategies — what to do with an upgraded NFT next.
- NFT stickers and gifts on TON — broader context of the Telegram NFT category.
