Overview
- Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced on August 18, 2026 that the company has applied to ICANN’s 2026 new gTLD round for the .gram string.
- Telegram’s public proposal says users could get second-level addresses like yourname.gram and create simple interactive websites hosted by Telegram with a single prompt.
- The application is part of ICANN’s large 2026 expansion, which carries a roughly $227,000 per-string fee, a multi-stage technical and policy review, and a Reveal Day disclosure expected around late October 2026; approval is not guaranteed.
- Industry observers note that if Telegram wins the registry it would control .gram and most user addresses would operate as Telegram-managed subdomains rather than independently owned, transferable domain names.
- The bid overlaps with an existing community-run .gram DNS inside the TON ecosystem and follows a recent temporary hold on Telegram’s t.me domain, raising open questions about technical, legal, and moderation duties Telegram would assume if it runs the TLD.