Telegram Channel owners can now launch Giveaways for their followers

Telegram is rolling out the ability for channel owners to launch Giveaways for randomly distributing prizes like Telegram Premium subscriptions among their followers. 

Channels of any level can start a giveaway from Channel Info > three-dot icon (vertical) or three-dot icon (horizontal) Statistics > Boosts. To start a giveaway, the organizer has to pay in advance for the Premium subscriptions they wish to award. This can be done from any Telegram app or via @PremiumBot or Fragment.

Telegram said that it will randomly select the winners based on the rules they set and distribute the prizes. In addition to a free Telegram Premium subscription, the giveaway organizers can add other prizes (like Teslas).

In addition to getting new followers, channels automatically earn 4 boosts for every subscription that they give out. These boosts can't be reassigned and stay with the channel for the duration of the subscriptions in the giveaway. Boosts help channels level up and unlock stories, custom colors and more.

"Giveaways have been a popular trend on social media for a while, but until now it was impossible to quickly organize them in a verifiable and transparent manner. Today Telegram changes that. This will allow millions of users to receive prizes like Telegram Premium subscriptions, and Telegram will guarantee that winners are selected fairly," Telegram wrote in a blog post.

Further, with this latest update, each Telegram Premium account will receive more boosts as part of its subscription. Users who pay for their own subscriptions now have 4 boosts instead of one to spread among several channels or to give certain channels multiple boosts.