In a spectacular display of how celebrity magnetism can resurrect supposedly moribund markets, Snoop Dogg‘s digital collectible drop on Telegram’s TON blockchain generated over $12 million in revenue within thirty minutes—a feat that would make even the most seasoned venture capitalists pause their cold brew and reconsider their Web3 obituaries.
The collection moved nearly 996,000 NFTs across various digital assets, including “Doggs” mirroring the rapper’s likeness (priced at 200 Telegram Stars each), signature cigar NFTs at 1,000 Stars, and assorted vintage cars and swag bags. Over 600,000 digital Doggs found homes, while more than 120,000 collectors apparently decided they needed virtual cigars in their portfolios—because nothing says diversification quite like animated smoking paraphernalia.
Nothing says portfolio diversification quite like animated smoking paraphernalia finding homes with 120,000 digital collectors.
What transforms this from mere celebrity cash grab to market phenomenon is Telegram’s billion-user ecosystem, which suddenly exposed NFTs to demographics previously untouched by blockchain evangelism. The platform’s founder Pavel Durov celebrated the success while announcing blockchain minting and secondary market functionality within 21 days, suggesting this wasn’t simply a one-off spectacle but infrastructure development disguised as entertainment.
The timing proves particularly fascinating given the NFT market’s recent tribulations. While the broader digital collectibles space maintains a $3.7 billion valuation with $4.3 million in daily trading volumes, enthusiasm had significantly waned from previous euphoric peaks. This represents a stark contrast to the broader NFT market’s struggles, which experienced a 61% decline in Q1 2025 sales dropping from $4.1 billion to $1.5 billion.
Ethereum and Solana projects continue dominating transaction volumes, yet Telegram-based NFTs are carving unexpected territory—the platform’s NFT Gifts market reached $200 million capitalization in June with $8 million daily trading. This surge in activity has attracted 263,000 unique wallets to participate in trading activities, demonstrating unprecedented market engagement for the platform. Smart contracts facilitate the seamless transfer and verification of these digital assets across the platform’s ecosystem.
Snoop Dogg amplified the drop’s cultural impact by releasing “Gifts,” a track featuring the collectibles in its music video, effectively transforming marketing into multimedia experience. The success attracted attention from other digital collections considering similar Telegram deployments, potentially establishing a blueprint for celebrity-blockchain collaborations.
The tokens function as animated profile items while converting to Telegram’s in-app currency, creating utility beyond speculative trading.
Whether this represents genuine market revival or temporary celebrity-induced frenzy remains uncertain, but the speed and scale suggest that reports of NFTs’ demise may have been considerably exaggerated—assuming sufficient star power accompanies the resurrection.
