Overview
- Telegram founder Pavel Durov said on Tuesday that the company has submitted an application to ICANN to operate the .gram top-level domain.
- If approved, Telegram says users could receive second-level addresses such as yourname.gram and create interactive, Telegram-hosted websites with a single prompt.
- The application now enters ICANN's New gTLD review, a multi-stage process that carries high fees and can take many months to more than a year before a string can be delegated.
- Observers note that a Telegram-run .gram would make username.gram addresses registry-controlled subdomains under Telegram's authority, which would limit user ownership, transferability and third-party control.
- The proposal revives the Gram name tied to Telegram's old TON project while an independent TON community already operates a separate community .gram DNS and Telegram has not disclosed pricing, registry provider or launch timing.