MRKT (mrkt.app, @mrkt) is the youngest of the three major gift marketplaces, but it has quickly carved out a clear niche: filters and grail hunting. This review covers positioning, fees, audience, and the scenarios where MRKT beats competitors.
TL;DR
- MRKT is a Telegram Mini App for trading upgraded gifts.
- Strength: most advanced attribute filters, modern UI, referral programme.
- Weakness: younger than Portals and Tonnel, liquidity on top collections is thinner.
- Fee: ~5% on seller, comparable to Portals.
- When to choose: grail hunting, finding undervalued lots through granular filters.
Below — detail.
What MRKT is and its positioning
MRKT launched in 2025 — later than Portals (2024) and Tonnel (2024). In a young but already structured market (two major venues had captured the main niches), MRKT could either die or find its own angle. The team picked the latter: deep attribute filtering and modern UI, oriented toward users used to classic NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Magic Eden, Blur.
By early 2026, MRKT holds third place in trading volume among gift-native marketplaces. Estimated at roughly 15-20% of daily volume (Portals 40-60%, Tonnel 15-25%, MRKT 15-20%, remainder Getgems and niche venues). These estimates rest on community tracker signals, not official statistics.
Strong side: granular filtering
This is MRKT’s core product differentiator. On Portals and Tonnel you can filter by collection and sort by price. On MRKT you can:
- pick a collection;
- pin specific model values (e.g. only “Gold”, only “Silver”);
- set a backdrop rarity range (e.g. “at most 1%”);
- set a symbol rarity range;
- pin a mint number range (e.g. “first 1000 only”);
- combine all of the above with AND logic;
- sort by price / listing date / combination rarity.
For grail hunters, this changes the workflow. On Portals/Tonnel, finding a rare combination means scrolling hundreds of cards and squinting. On MRKT, the same task is 3-4 clicks and you see all ~5-15 matching lots in proper order.
Example: Plush Pepe grail hunt
Say you want a Plush Pepe with model “Gold” (5% frequency) and backdrop “Black Hole” (0.5%). Joint probability: 0.025%. On a 50K-supply collection that’s about 12-13 lots worldwide, of which usually 1-3 are listed at any time.
On Portals: open the collection, scroll visually, trying to spot rare backdrops by thumbnails. You can miss a lot priced below true rarity.
On MRKT: set filters “model = Gold, backdrop = Black Hole”, sort by price asc. If such a lot is listed at 200 TON when fair value is 800 TON — it’s yours, top of the list.
UX: what MRKT does well
Modern visual language
- Dense card grid with attribute previews on the thumbnail.
- Hover animations (on mobile — tap effects).
- Drawer filters on mobile — the main screen stays for the catalogue.
- Sticky floor block — current collection price always visible regardless of scroll position.
- Dark mode by default, light mode optional.
Mobile UX
MRKT optimizes primarily for mobile — correct choice, because most gift traders trade from the phone in Telegram. Filters collapse into a drawer to save screen; sticky floor on top; quick price input via keyboard without modal.
Analytics
Floor charts exist (24h/7d/30d), but shallower than Tonnel’s. Per-lot trade history — yes. Portfolio P&L analytics — no (at time of writing).
Fees and referral programme
Base fee
~5% on seller. Comparable to Portals, higher than Tonnel. On a 100 TON sale, seller nets ~94.95 TON (similar to Portals).
Referral programme
This is MRKT’s unique feature among gift marketplaces. The platform shares part of fees with referrers who bring new traders. Exact rates change periodically, but on average:
- 5-15% of fee revenue from referred users’ trades flows back to the referrer.
- Lifetime or long-window basis (depends on current config).
- Payouts auto in TON to the wallet address linked to the referrer’s Telegram account.
Who cares:
- Content partners (Telegram channels, YouTube, X accounts). One popular channel can bring hundreds of active traders and earn real passive TON.
- Communities inside MRKT’s ecosystem. Chats where coordinated buying or joint drop analysis happens.
- Just active users who share their referral with friends.
The referral programme is the main reason content partners actively promote MRKT. Portals and Tonnel have nothing equivalent.
Exclusive listings
MRKT sometimes becomes the primary publication point for rare lots. Two reasons:
- The referral programme incentivizes large-audience sellers to list specifically on MRKT — every purchase through their referral link brings extra income.
- Granular filters allow correctly “positioning” a rare lot to the right audience. On Portals a lot in the general stream may go unnoticed; on MRKT with a “model = Gold” filter it’s found immediately.
For most mass collections there is no exclusivity — lots dual-list on Portals and Tonnel in parallel. But at the top of rarity (grails), MRKT becomes a natural first venue.
iNot every MRKT 'exclusive' is genuinely exclusive
Marketplaces love to label listings as “exclusive” even when the seller simply hasn’t re-listed elsewhere yet. If price matters — always check the same lot by mint number on Portals and Tonnel. If speed matters — sometimes the exclusive is real and worth buying immediately.
Audience and user base
MRKT does not publish DAU/MAU. Indirect signals:
- Strong position in the RU-speaking community — many content partners from the RU segment actively promote the platform.
- Less known in EN community than Portals.
- High share of grail hunters and volume traders in the active base — these are people who actually need filters.
- Growing base — referral-driven inflow is visible in the official channel’s growth.
Availability from Russia
At time of writing, MRKT is accessible from Russia without VPN:
- Mini-app via Telegram infrastructure.
- mrkt.app website on neutral CDN.
- Wallets (Tonkeeper, MyTonWallet, Wallet) work from RU.
Same caveats as other marketplaces: regulation may change, mini-app is more resilient than web, loss of Telegram = loss of storefront (not assets).
When to use MRKT — matrix
| Scenario | Use MRKT? |
|---|---|
| Grail hunting (rare combination search) | Yes — core use case |
| Buy top collection quickly | Better Portals — deeper liquidity |
| Sell large lot (100+ TON) | Better Tonnel — lower fee |
| Earn referral income | Yes — unique feature |
| Floor dynamics analytics | Better Tonnel — deeper charts |
| First gift trade | Lean Portals — slightly simpler UX |
| Find undervalued lots | Yes — filters are the main tool |
| Dual-list for speed | Yes — list on MRKT + Portals in parallel |
All three side-by-side
| Parameter | MRKT | Portals | Tonnel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | ~5% | ~5% | ~3-4% |
| Top-collection depth | Medium | High | High |
| Long-tail depth | Medium | Medium | Low |
| Granular filters | Best | Basic | Basic |
| Floor analytics | Basic | Basic | Best |
| Referral programme | Yes | — | — |
| Interface | Mini-app | Mini-app | Bot + mini-app |
| Modern UI | Yes | Yes | More minimal |
| Launch year | 2025 | 2024 | 2024 |
Security
Same risks as any gift venue:
- Fake “MRKT” mini-apps with substituted contracts.
- Phishing links in channels and DMs.
- “MRKT managers” in private messages — they don’t exist.
Defence
- Open MRKT only through ton.app or a verified link.
- Verify the
@mrktaccount has the verified checkmark. - Don’t sign “approve all” in TON Connect — ever, anywhere.
- 2FA in Telegram is mandatory.
Further reading
- Telegram Gift Marketplaces 2026: Portals vs Tonnel vs MRKT — short three-way comparison.
- Portals: Upgraded Gifts Marketplace Review — the main competitor.
- Tonnel Network: gifts trading guide — arbitrageur’s terminal.
- Telegram Gifts 2026: how the market works — sector overview.
MRKT is the “specialist”. It doesn’t beat competitors on simple trades, but on grail hunting and finding undervalued lots through attributes it’s practically the only choice. If filters are your main working tool, MRKT belongs in your tab set.
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