Ton (Telegram Open Network) Foundation, has announced via Twitter that they have added crypto payment functionality to Telegram, the popular instant messaging app. Crypto payments can take place on Telegram with the Ton token.
The crypto payment feature has now exposed Telegram’s 550 million users to blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.
In order to use the crypto payment feature, users must first download and install a verified bot, built on Telegram’s open Bot API that supports crypto transfers, and allows them to buy cryptocurrencies using a bank card, trade them, or send them to other wallets.
Users can send Bitcoin (BTC) or Toncoin to other users by clicking on the “Wallet” symbol in direct messages, according to the company.
The goal, according to the TON Foundation, is to make sending Toncoin seem like sending a text message. According to the company, the bot has already been utilized by 800,000 Telegram accounts.
The foundation said,
“We anticipate that this functionality will extend into consumer to business payments, so that people can easily acquire goods and services by sending toncoin via bots in the Telegram app.”
The company says that with this service, users will no longer need to enter long wallet addresses and wait for confirmations.
Twitter, the social media giant, also has a similar feature, where users can tip using cryptocurrencies. Albeit it relies on third-party payment services, such as Jack Mallers’ Strike app.
Following a lawsuit from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Telegram abandoned the TON crypto project in August 2020. But the company has now gone past its hurdles to deliver on its word. To promote its ecosystem, the organization just received $1 billion in TON from its users.
Telegram Open Network, which uses a proof-of-stake system, was founded in 2017 to provide decentralized services such as decentralized storage, anonymous networks, DNS, instant payments, and others.