Telegram and some independent developers have made more progress in attracting the masses to crypto than the $100 billion in venture capital that has flooded the space since 2014.
Cryptocurrency adoption has been hindered by poor user experience, limited real-world utility, and poor distribution. Through support and integration of The Open Network (TON), Telegram is solving all of these problems and more.
From the perspective of a cryptocurrency enthusiast
Throughout their early development and until recently, cryptocurrencies focused on niche technological development, mainly serving speculators and lacking real-world utility. With the emergence of spot ETFs and companies like BlackRock opening funds focused on asset tokenization, now is the time to grow.
Telegram has combined its messaging app with 800 million monthly active users, a blockchain that provides a path to accept the TON cryptocurrency, and a native wallet bot simply called Wallet. While many crypto advertising platforms vaguely romanticize the concept of “unifying Web2 and Web3,” Telegram is actually doing it.
With this combination, Telegram solves three core problems that hinder digital currencies. Many consider stablecoins to be the greatest product of cryptocurrency to date. Because, with native USDT on TON since April, seamless P2P value transfers have become a reality. Users can send cryptocurrency to friends as easily as sending a message on WhatsApp. This is a smoother user experience than neobanks like Venmo or Revolut and is light years ahead of traditional banks.
However, the opportunity for hundreds of millions of people to get involved in crypto could come through Telegram’s Mini Apps – an open platform for businesses to build and deploy crypto-friendly apps. This will allow teams to distribute products to people who don’t know about crypto while the end users don’t necessarily know they’re using such a product – whether it’s a cool mobile game or a protocol. DeFi.
From the perspective of people who understand cryptocurrency
Telegram has long consolidated its position in the cryptocurrency sector. This is a popular platform for knowledgeable people used to keep in touch or share ideas, and is often the first social media channel that new projects set up with their X account.
Recently, Telegram has become even more popular among on-chain traders. A new generation of Telegram trading bots has changed crypto UX forever and has probably also changed on-chain trading forever. Buy/sell, place limit orders, scan for new projects, track new launches and copy “smart money” trades, all made as simple as one order.
Having a Telegram bot for complete relief from the most annoying UX problems of on-chain trading is a breath of fresh air. It was one of those very rare times when a crypto product made many people say “wow, this is great.” On the other hand, messaging apps have made altcoin trading much more competitive and boosted “altcoin popularity.”
Now, newcomers can interact with smart contracts much easier than in the early days. Combined with increasingly useful distribution and applications, this means a wave of new capital flowing into cryptocurrencies in the coming years.
Interesting but still work to do
The improvement we have here in UX cannot be overstated. Now, thanks to Telegram, introducing people who are unfamiliar with cryptocurrency to TON’s Wallet is much simpler.
So have Telegram and TON completely won? Not necessarily. The improvement in user experience and delivery is a huge step forward, but we have yet to see a comprehensive range of user-facing applications. Mini Apps are being developed and there is a big incentive for game developers to build interesting Telegram games to attract the attention of a huge user base. However, what exists today is more meme-based than utility-based. Regulation also remains a concern, but it’s an ongoing issue across the industry, not just Telegram or TON.
Telegram and TON still have a lot of work to do but they will definitely succeed. The market seems to be pricing this in now, as TON has entered the list of top 10 cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization. TON’s performance is largely driven by the fervent speculation we are all too familiar with, but there are real fundamentals that support much of its growth.
TON price chart | Source: CoinGecko
Most of us want to see a future where cryptocurrencies are used by the public and this is also the view of Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov – an ardent Bitcoin supporter. He stated that TON’s mission is to “put crypto in every pocket”. Simply put, Telegram is better positioned to make that happen than any other entity in our growing industry.
You can see the TON price here.
Minh Anh
According to Coindesk
