Digital Freedom Contest: Submissions

We would like to thank each contestant for their input – you are all amazing! More than 1,000 links were submitted, already drawing over 67.2M views. That is the population of a large country – reached, thanks to you, with the idea of digital freedom.

We will open all submissions on contest.com in the coming days – watch for a separate announcement here. Judging is already underway; results are expected by the end of August.

If you have not yet edited your video's caption on the external platform or updated your bio (on TikTok, Instagram*, X, YouTube or Snap) to include your @username or @TelegramTips44, please do so immediately. This is the only way we can verify that you are the author of the submitted video.

ContestBot is now ready to accept submissions for the Digital Freedom Contest.

Start the bot, choose “Digital Freedom Contest”, answer the bot’s questions, then send:
– A link(s) to your video(s) on TikTok, Instagram*, YouTube, Snapchat Spotlights or X.

Username Verification: Remember to include your Telegram @username in the caption of your video on the external platform. If you cannot edit the caption, your Telegram @username must be visible in your bio or About section on the external platform.

⚠️ Important: If you're submitting more than one video, put all links in a single message, separated by line breaks.

Note: We will automatically discard videos that gained fewer than 10,000 views by the deadline or that did not meet the username verification criteria.

Digital Freedom Contest: Clarifications and Submissions

We are glad to provide clarifications regarding the numerous similar questions we received:

Q: How many videos can be submitted?
A: You can submit multiple videos across different platforms – e.g., 3 separate videos for X and 2 for TikTok – or one video for each qualifying platform (TikTok, Instagram*, YouTube, Snapchat or X), provided each separate video gained at least 10,000 views. Videos that gained fewer than 10,000 views will not be accepted for the competition and will not be eligible for a share of the prize fund.

Note: Videos we deem low-quality or suspect of having generated non-organic views will be excluded.

Q: When will submissions open, and how can I send my video(s)?
A: We will post a separate message in this channel in the coming days, once @ContestBot begins accepting submissions. You will have at least several days to submit your work, so do not worry – you will not miss it.

Note: @ContestBot is the only tool you will use to submit your work.

Q: I'm worried that my video will be stolen and submitted by someone else.
A: You must include your Telegram @username in the caption of the video on the external platform. This username must match the @username of the account from which you will submit the video. Videos that does not have a proper @username caption, will be discarded from the evaluation.

Digital Freedom Contest

Prize Fund: $200,000
Deadline: July 15, 23:59 Dubai time
Results: August 2026

Telegram is launching its most ambitious contest for content creators.

The Task
Create a viral video about digital freedom, post it on one of these platforms — TikTok, Instagram*, YouTube, Snapchat Spotlights or X — and get 10,000+ authentic views.

Requirements and Conditions
– You must use at least some ideas and footage from Pavel Durov's speech;
– You may add any other media and ideas to promote digital freedom;
– You may submit multiple videos across multiple platforms.
– You may use any language and any tools to create your video.

Evaluation Criteria

Videos we deem low-quality or suspect of having generated non-organic views will be excluded. All other qualifying videos will be eligible for a share of the prize fund.

Submissions
We will publish instructions on how to submit links to your videos on July 6 in this channel.

Good luck!

Design Contest 2026, Round 2: Submissions

Reminder: only those who secured 2nd or 3rd places in Round 1 will be able to submit their work.

ContestBot will begin accepting your submissions during the next 24 hours – you will be able to submit your work by 23:59 Dubai Time on May 18th, 2026.

Similar to Round 1, your submission must include:
– A link to either a private or public channel, with all relevant media posted for each feature you propose improvements for. You are kindly advised to not reuse your old channels.
– A .zip archive with your static mockups (.png) and animated demos (if applicable).

Note: Your channel may stay private until the deadline. Make sure you assign it a username after the deadline. We will discard private channels from the evaluation.

Hairy Goose | Channel – $560
Tactful Butterfly | Channel – $560
Nice Ant | Channel – $560
Big Lynx | Channel – $490
Slim Seal | Channel – $490
Lawful Puma | Channel – $490
Suave Gopher | Channel – $490
Happy Mule | Channel – $420
Kooky Beaver | Channel – $420
Gifted Lizard | Channel – $420
Quiet Squirrel | Channel – $420
Lucky Cock | Channel – $350
Fluffy Walrus | Channel – $350
Giant Sloth | Channel – $350
Tactful Swan | Channel – $280
Fancy Mule | Channel – $280
Daring Rat | Channel – $280
Strict Antelope | Channel – $210
Kind Lizard | Channel – $210
Tanned Cobra | Channel – $210
Sharp Leopard | Channel – $210
Nimble Pigeon | Channel – $140
Dreamy Falcon | Channel – $140
Witty Meerkat | Channel – $140
Jolly Lizard | Channel – $140
Hairy Griffin | Channel – $70
Mighty Ibex | Channel – $70
Merry Gnat | Channel – $70
Stone Dragon | Channel – $70
Fancy Crow | Channel – $70
Neat Rabbit | Channel – $70
Jolly Bull | Channel – $70
Tall Piranha | Channel – $70
Quiet Whale | Channel – $70
Subtle Dolphin | Channel – $70
Gifted Tiger | Channel – $70

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Enjoy the rest of your Friday and have a great weekend ahead!

Contest for Artists: Results

Our first artist contest of this scale drew hundreds of creative minds.

The review phase was intense and lengthy. We went through every submission with care and were thrilled by how many outstanding entries we found.

Some artists have also been approached directly to explore further cooperation opportunities – in addition to their share of the prize fund.

Meet the winners!

Funky Clam | Channel – $5,110
Quick Lion | Channel – $3,010
Noble Bat | Channel – $2,660
Regal Gorilla | Channel – $2,380
Magic Gorilla | Channel – $1,960
Stone Mule | Channel – $1,890
Stout Lynx | Channel – $1,820
Sharp Wombat | Channel – $1,400
Dreamy Bee | Channel – $1,400
Mighty Leopard | Channel – $1,190
Agile Sloth | Channel – $1,120
Suave Leopard | Channel – $1,120
Sunny Unicorn | Channel – $1,120
Gentle Scorpion | Channel – $1,050
Suave Spider | Channel – $980
Small Horse | Channel – $980
Fluffy Fly | Channel – $910
Mad Puma | Channel – $840
Posh Dodo | Channel – $840
Night Cockroach | Channel – $840
Tactful Goat | Channel – $770
Cute Elk | Channel – $770
Merry Spider | Channel – $700
Wise Swan | Channel – $700
Posh Yak | Channel – $700
Fierce Mantis | Channel – $700
Suave Gull | Channel – $700
Shiny Fish | Channel – $700
Shiny Zebra | Channel – $700
Cuddly Starfish | Channel – $630
Small Tiger | Channel – $630
Bright Frog | Channel – $630
Witty Beetle | Channel – $560
Perfect Jaguar | Channel – $560
Happy Owl | Channel – $560

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Blockchain Contest, Round 2: Results

We awarded $100,400 to the winners of TON Consensus Challenge.

The core task was to find potential flaws in TON's new consensus algorithm – though participants were welcome to report any other flaws they came across.

All these efforts from the contestants helped us make the algorithm flawless.

1st PLACE
Happy Turtle – $19,800
Shiny Giraffe – $18,200
Dandy Ram – $13,200

2nd PLACE
Mighty Yak – $8,800
Kingly Rabbit – $8,400
Fit Piranha – $6,400
Gifted Ram – $4,400
Cool Fly – $4,400
Swift Gecko – $4,400

3rd PLACE
Witty Gorilla – $2,200
Young Walrus – $2,200
Quick Crab – $2,000
Kingly Crow – $2,000
Busy Unicorn – $2,000
Rich Phoenix – $2,000

Congratulations to the winners! Stay tuned for our next contests.

Design Contest 2026, Round 2

Deadline: 23:59 Dubai time @ May 17, 2026
Who can participate: only those who secured 2nd or 3rd places in Round 1.

Telegram announces an express round of the Design Contest for selected winners of our previous competition.

The Task:
Identify weak spots in existing features of our official apps (Android, iOS, Telegram Desktop) and propose improvements – fixing the flaws and making the target features more elegant, convenient, simple, clear, or even more modern.

Contest Requirements:

1. You may submit up to 2 features.

2. Submissions must be in Before / After format.

3. Static only mockups are acceptable when no animation changes are involved.

4. Anything is within the scope – copy, spacing, colors, visuals – as long as the change noticeably improves the user experience.

Standout submissions will receive additional reward of up to $1,000 per each feature you improve. The best of you may get a chance to join the Telegram Team.

Submissions:
We will publish instructions how to submit your work closer to the deadline.

4th PLACE – $750
Cute Lemur | Channel
Bold Fish | Channel
Magic Gorilla | Channel
Fit Tapir | Channel
Classy Skunk | Channel
Kooky Crow | Channel
Witty Fox | Channel
Slim Giraffe | Channel
Sweet Flamingo | Channel
Noble Ant | Channel
Sweet Duck | Channel
Brave Chicken | Channel
Humble Cock | Channel
Sleek Piranha | Channel
Sleek Kangaroo | Channel
Agile Monkey | Channel
Quirky Frog | Channel
Sexy Ladybird | Channel
Dandy Snail | Channel
Crazy Peacock | Channel
Jolly Elk | Channel
Sleek Mink | Channel

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Enjoy the rest of your Friday and have a great weekend ahead!

Design Contest 2025: Results

Our most challenging Design Contest to date turned out to be a great success. This time, designers faced the complex task of crafting not just a standalone feature, but the foundation of an entirely new way to communicate on Telegram – and to manage that flow.

It was truly rewarding to come across so many gems out of 192 submissions – thank you. We spent more than a hundred hours reviewing each one, and dozens more discussing the ideas that stood out.

With so many strong concepts in play, none decisively outperformed the others – so no one secured 1st place.

As a token of recognition of the effort participants put in, we are boosting the total prize fund from the initial $50,000 to $75,500 – an increase of over 50%.

Now finally, meet the winners!

2nd PLACE – $5,000
Sexy Leopard | Channel
Brave Flamingo | Channel
Strict Crow | Channel
Desert Bass | Channel
Cuddly Turtle | Channel
Humble Cockroach | Channel
Merry Bat | Channel

3rd PLACE – $2,000
Eager Duck | Channel
Nimble Kitten | Channel
Mighty Crab | Channel
Eager Mantis | Channel
Sunny Mink | Channel
Caring Eagle | Channel
Shiny Fish | Channel
Gifted Puma | Channel
Nimble Sheep | Channel
Crazy Gnat | Channel
Mighty Falcon | Channel
Noble Swallow | Channel

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ContestBot is now ready to accept submissions for the Blockchain Contest, Round 2.

Start the bot, choose “TON Consensus Challenge”, answer the bot’s questions, then send:
– A ZIP archive containing a .md or .txt file with a brief summary of the issues you reported using Rapid Reports; number the issues accordingly.

Note: Send your submission from exactly the same account you used to report the issues.

Blockchain Contest, Round 2

Telegram and TON Core announce a new bug bounty contest!

Prize Fund: Up to $100,000
Deadline: 23:59, March 27 (Dubai time)
Task: Analyze TON’s new consensus algorithm for potential vulnerabilities.

Reports on other validator bugs are also welcome, but consensus-related issues remain the top priority.

Prize Fund Distribution
The total prize fund, up to $100,000, will be allocated based on each participant's overall contribution.

Guidelines and Submissions
For detailed instructions, contest rules, and submission guidelines, refer to this document.

Additional Opportunities
Winners may have the chance to join the Telegram or TON Core teams.

Telegram iOS Contest 2025: Results

This contest was a rare case where we ourselves tried to solve the same task we outlined in the competition. We started at almost the same time and achieved a satisfactory result within a week.

We hoped that some of the participants would achieve a similar result using the same approach, and we were glad to see that this indeed happened.

Curiously, this competition also proved that more and more people are getting their hands on the latest AI tools, though so far this has not helped them much – several AI-slop entries were discarded as worthless.

We indeed had some fun testing all your apps, enjoying all those transitions and glassy effects. Thank you once again for all the contributions. We are glad that more and more of you have the courage to participate in our contests.

Enough said: meet the winners!

1st PLACE – $7,000
Hip Mantis
Bold Shark

2nd PLACE – $4,500
Desert Panda
Merry Goat
Eager Duck

3rd PLACE – $3,000
Merry Python
Hip Hyena
Ace Rat
Suave Gorilla

BONUS PLACE – $1,000
Funky Starfish
Busy Sheep
Neat Lion
Chic Zebra
Crazy Rabbit
Hip Butterfly
Sturdy Hamster
Jolly Gull
Bold Wasp
Merry Hedgehog
Lucky Crab
Quirky Monkey
Nimble Gopher
Ace Wolf

That's all for today, more results (and new contests) are on the way.

Contest for Artists: Submissions

We received 196 submissions for the Telegram Contest for Artists.

Everyone is welcome to view the submissions while the Telegram judges conduct their own checks.

Last Call

The deadline is in less than 6 hours.

Start uploading your work now. A submission is considered successful only after the archive has been fully uploaded.

Do not postpone your submission until the very last moment.

Late submissions will not be accepted.

ContestBot is now ready to accept submissions for the Telegram Contest for Artists.

1. Check Submission Guidelines.

2. Start the bot, choose “Contest for Artists”, answer the bot’s questions, then send:
– A link to either a private or public channel.
– A .zip archive.

Note: Your channel may stay private until the deadline. Make sure you assign it a username after the deadline while not revoking the original private link you will be submitting. There is no need to upload your archive to the channel. We will discard private channels from the evaluation.

Telegram Contest for Artists: Submissions

Your submissions will have two core parts:

1. A Telegram channel – where you post:
– All gift models you created, one by one as separate stickers (please combine them into a single sticker pack with the help of @stickers). Should you be unable to meet the requirements for animation artwork, post a video recording instead.

2. A .zip archive – which must contain:
– Your static models as .png + .ai files
or
– Your animated models as .tgs + .aep files
or both

Note: Your channel may stay private until the deadline. Make sure you assign it a username after the deadline while not revoking the original private link you will be submitting. There is no need to upload archives from step 2 to the channel.

===

We will announce SEPARATELY once @ContestBot will be ready to accept your submissions. In the meantime make sure you will have your channels and archives prepared.

iOS Contest 2025: Submissions

⚠️ Deadline reminder: December 26, 23:59 (Dubai time). Late submissions will not be accepted.

ContestBot is now ready to accept submissions for the Telegram iOS Contest 2025.

Start the bot, choose “iOS Contest 2025”, answer the bot’s questions, then send:
- A link to the commit on a public GitHub repository, cloned from the Telegram-iOS repository.

Note: Your repository may stay private until the deadline. You must ensure that the app is buildable from a clean clone of the repository on a fresh macOS installation with Xcode and iOS Platform Support installed.

Please make sure to prepare everything in advance and avoid postponing your submission until the very last moment.

Design Contest 2025: Submissions

We received 192 submissions for the Design Contest.

Everyone is welcome to view the submissions while the Telegram judges conduct their own checks.