Web3 Meets Telecom: How Degenphone Transforms Mobile Numbers Into User-Owned Digital Assets

In Brief

Exploring Degenphone: a platform that transforms real mobile numbers into tradable NFT assets, enabling user-owned, privacy-focused telecom services.

Emerging platform that converts real mobile numbers into blockchain-based assets Degenphone released an overview of how it approaches integrating telecommunications with decentralized finance (DeFi)–a new concept called TeleFi

Positioning the service at the crossover of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), TeleFi aims to replace the conventional rental model of phone number usage with one centered on digital ownership.

Degenphone utilizes eSIM functionality paired with non-fungible tokens (NFT) to present a different form of mobile number control and privacy. It operates through cooperation with established telecom and messaging providers, incorporating these technologies into its system.

Through this framework, an NFT can correspond to a working European mobile number. Acquisition of such a number occurs via direct initial offerings or purchase on secondary markets, and onboarding does not require customer identity verification. Once stored within a cryptocurrency wallet, the token can be validated through the platform’s website or a supported application, enabling the user to receive SMS messages linked to that number.

This arrangement enables registration on digital platforms without revealing a personal primary number, providing increased anonymity and data security. The completion of the first received message updates the token’s metadata, marking it as activated.

By aligning mobile numbers with tradable NFT assets, this model challenges the traditional telecom environment in which carriers maintain control over numbers and consumers simply rent usage rights. Here, ownership can be transferred freely on open marketplaces, reflecting a decentralized asset-based approach to communication services.

Degenphone To Expand Tokenized Mobile Number Ecosystem Across Multiple Blockchains

The first release of Degenphone tokenized mobile numbers on The Open Network (TON) was quickly purchased, with more than a thousand NFTs minted initially and the current supply reaching several thousand distinct numbers. A trading event accompanied this rollout through the project’s own marketplace, marking the start of its broader expansion. The next deployment is being prepared on the Solana blockchain with a planned release date of October 23rd.

Looking ahead, Degenphone’s future development plans include a dedicated mobile application offering voice call features, tools for integration with automated digital systems, flexible usage arrangements and the possibility of a specialized wallet device capable of receiving text messages

Additional efforts are directed toward enabling interoperability across multiple blockchain environments, allowing these NFT-based identifiers to circulate between different networks.

Degenphone continues to investigate the combined use of eSIMs and digital tokens as a way to manage identity and communication more independently. This direction aligns with a wider shift toward user-controlled digital credentials, where elements such as phone numbers function as transferable assets within decentralized technology frameworks.