You currently need a phone number to sign up for Telegram. Add an option to sign up using an email address or another method, like some messengers do (e.g., Wire, Matrix, Threema, Session).
Potential spam issues could be mitigated by:
Only allowing addresses from major email providers at first and slowly expanding reach if it's manageable.
Automatically limiting such accounts from contacting strangers until their perform some additional actions.
Allowing group admins to prevent such accounts from posting by default.
Use Cases
Avoiding an identifier tied to your identity, hiding identity from governments or people who know your number.
Workaround
Use a virtual phone number.
Warning: Do NOT use temporary numbers to connect to your account, as you may lose access to your account when you lose access to the number.
Now all of us know you upvote and show your interest in the suggestion. You don't need to re-send & re-delete your comments many times so that it'll continue disturbing all users who focus on the requested feature with almost the same content but think about what you really want to say seriously, which can make your comment clearer, more precise and more meaningful.
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Any other tech or concept we could use?
We need something that is open source or decentralized
In my country you legally need to verify you identity, but that doesen't stop you from buying a pre verified SIM. People sell them, even in bulk.