Within thirty minutes of launch, Snoop Dogg‘s digital collectible drop generated $12 million in sales—a figure that would make most traditional album releases weep into their declining royalty statements. The rap icon’s collaboration with Telegram moved nearly one million animated tokens (996,000 to be precise), suggesting that perhaps the reports of NFTs’ death were greatly exaggerated.
The collection featured predictably on-brand elements: vintage cars, cannabis-themed artwork, and animated profile flexes including swag bags and cartoon dogs. These digital trinkets doubled as Telegram profile animations while offering conversion to the platform’s in-app currency, Stars—a utility that distinguishes them from the purely speculative jpeg collections that dominated 2021’s frothy market.
These weren’t just expensive digital bragging rights—they actually did something beyond gathering dust in crypto wallets.
Telegram’s approach proved strategically sound, selling NFTs internally before planned minting on The Open Network (TON) blockchain. This two-stage process (with secondary market trading scheduled 21 days post-launch) allowed the platform to capture immediate revenue while deferring complex blockchain operations.
TON, originally developed by Telegram before legal obstacles forced its 2020 handover to open-source communities, now serves as the backbone for Telegram’s crypto ecosystem. The platform’s 1 billion users provide an enormous potential audience for crypto-related features and digital collectibles.
The drop’s success arrives amid challenging market conditions—Q1 2025 witnessed a 61% crash in NFT sales volume, making Snoop’s performance particularly significant. Pavel Durov, Telegram’s CEO, described the event as record-breaking for NFT drops on the platform, positioning Telegram as a serious competitor beyond its messaging functionalities. This timing is especially notable given that by September 2023, over 95% of NFT collections held no meaningful market value, making Snoop’s success with blue-chip collections a rare bright spot in an otherwise struggling market.
Marketing amplified the launch’s impact through Snoop’s themed track “Gifts” and accompanying music video, while leveraging references to previous hits like “Drop It Like It’s Hot” for thematic continuity. Social media channels buzzed with descriptions of the collaboration as “legendary,” suggesting the intersection of hip-hop culture and blockchain technology retains considerable appeal. This represents a significant evolution from Snoop’s earlier blockchain ventures, including the Snoop Passport Series launched in June 2023.
The rapid sell-out indicates that celebrity-backed NFT projects can still command substantial premiums when properly executed, though whether this represents genuine market recovery or merely reflects Snoop Dogg’s enduring cultural relevance remains an open question.
What’s certain is that Telegram’s integrated approach—combining social features, payments, and blockchain functionality—offers a compelling alternative to traditional NFT marketplaces.
