Khabib's Papakha NFTs Move $4.35M on Telegram in Record TON Transaction

UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov just made waves in the NFT space through Telegram’s latest collectible drop. Over the weekend, 29,000 digital papakhas created by the legendary fighter found buyers in what turned out to be a major blockchain moment.

The release unfolded across 290 consecutive five-minute bidding windows, wrapping up on November 23. What’s interesting isn’t just the volume—it’s the pricing structure. Each papakha traded for approximately 10,100 Telegram stars, which converts to roughly 103 TON tokens or $150 per unit. Do the math: that’s nearly $4.35 million flowing into the collectible ecosystem in a single weekend.

These aren’t your typical JPEGs sitting on Discord. Built on the TON network, the papakhas carry real utility. Holders can swap them for stars or Toncoin directly, or take them to external NFT platforms for secondary trading. Telegram founder Pavel Durov went beyond the hype, calling these “socially significant NFTs”—suggesting the digital papakhas represent something more meaningful than pure speculation or status symbols.

The scale of this transaction underscores how Telegram is positioning itself as a legitimate entry point for mainstream audiences exploring blockchain assets. Khabib’s participation adds credibility that celebrity endorsements typically can’t buy. Whether these collectibles become cultural artifacts or fade into the thousands of forgotten drops remains to be seen, but the numbers speak volumes about where retail interest is flowing.