Viktor Mikhailychenko, CEO of Antiban.pro
January 12, 2026
WhatsApp is still the undisputed leader of digital messaging — more than 3 billion people use it every day for personal and business communication. But since its founding in 2009, its identity model has been the same: your phone number is your identity. In an age of massive data breaches, stricter regulation, and growing digital surveillance, that model is increasingly fragile.
In January 2026, Meta began a staged rollout of username-style logins for WhatsApp — think Telegram-style handles. This isn’t just a UI tweak. It’s a fundamental shift that could reshape the messaging market, business models, and what we even mean by privacy.
As CEO of Antiban.pro — a company with nine-plus years of experience in messenger infrastructure, account blocks, and enterprise communications — I view this as one of the most consequential updates in WhatsApp’s history.
WhatsApp is introducing unique user handles — for example, @VictorAntibanCEO — that become the primary identifier across:
one-on-one and group chats
voice and video calls
business conversations
API integrations
Phone numbers will no longer be required for initial contact. They’ll remain in the background for existing connections and account recovery, but they’ll stop being the public identifier.
For businesses, Meta is launching a key component: the Business-Scoped User ID (BSUID). BSUIDs let companies interact with customers without storing or processing their phone numbers — a shift that will fundamentally change CRM, messaging campaigns, and support architectures.
Meta is also rolling out:
branded handle reservation
integration with Meta Verified
sync with Instagram and Facebook
a mandatory WhatsApp Business API update by June 2026
This change isn’t driven solely by competition with Telegram. Three big forces are pushing it:
Regulatory pressure. Laws like the EU’s Digital Markets Act and similar rules in Asia and Latin America limit using phone numbers as a universal digital ID.
Rising privacy expectations. After Cambridge Analytica and numerous breaches, people are less willing to expose their phone numbers to strangers in chats, groups, and marketing channels.
The economics of messaging. The messaging market is worth well over $100 billion by 2026. Meta needs an ID system that works for e-commerce, AI assistants, and business automation.
For regular users, moving to handles means:
lower risk of doxxing and phone-number leaks
protection from unwanted contact
the ability to join groups and communities without revealing a number
safer cross-platform communication
In countries where SIMs are tightly controlled (EU, India, Middle East), this is especially meaningful: your phone number will no longer act as a person’s digital passport.
At Antiban.pro, our data shows that tying communications to phone numbers lowers conversion in international campaigns by 15–20% — due to user reluctance, formatting errors, carrier blocks, and fraud filters.
Handles fix many of these issues.
Companies get:
branded communication channels
a unified user ID across platforms
reduced regulatory risk
cleaner, more resilient CRM profiles
With BSUID, WhatsApp is moving from being “just a messenger” toward becoming a bona fide business platform.
Telegram has supported usernames since 2013, which helped it dominate communities, influencers, marketing, and pseudo-anonymous interaction. WhatsApp is catching up — but with a corporate focus: security, compliance, and deep Meta-ecosystem integration.
Our internal data shows campaigns that use Telegram usernames see 25–30% higher engagement. Now WhatsApp has a shot at pulling that market toward itself.
The transition won’t be seamless:
handle speculation could create a gray market and squatting
deeper Meta integration may increase data collection vectors
spam and phishing will adapt to the new model
businesses will need rapid API and CRM updates
older users may face adoption barriers
Based on McKinsey’s experience with digital transformation, up to 20% of users may temporarily fall out of funnels during big changes.
Drawing on Antiban.pro’s experience (we’ve prevented over 10,000 account blocks), I recommend the following.
For business
Reserve branded handles now
Audit your API and CRM for BSUID compatibility
Update security policies and 2FA flows
Test migrations in staging environments
For marketing
Use handles as public entry points
Stop relying on phone numbers in ads
Don’t overuse cold outreach
For users
Reserve a unique handle
Enable 2FA
Review privacy settings
Keep Telegram (or another messenger) as a backup channel
Handles in WhatsApp are more than convenience — they’re a restructuring of digital identity inside the world’s largest messenger. Meta is betting on privacy, business integrations, and a new communications economy.
By 2030 this could expand the messaging market by 15–20% and cement WhatsApp’s role as a global business platform.
At Antiban.pro, we’re ready to help companies navigate this transition — handling blocks and technical issues as they arise.
In the data era, vigilance is the key to survival and growth.
Viktor Mikhailychenko — CEO, Antiban.pro.
Antiban.pro provides technical account recovery and protection services for social networks and messengers.