Summary:
- Telegram users can now send and receive USDT transactions within chats on the messaging app, CoinDesk reported citing an email from the social network giant.
- USDT was added to the platform’s Wallet marketplace, joining other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Toncoin.
- The messaging app has been linked with crypto adoption since the TON project was launched in 2018 by founders Parel Durov and Nikolai Durov.
Telegram users can now send and receive USDT transactions within chats on the messaging app, CoinDesk reported on Wednesday citing an email from the social network giant.
Users of the app have access to a dedicated wallet marketplace where they can buy and sell supported cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Toncoin (TON). Tether’s USDT token, crypto’s largest stablecoin by market cap, was added to the dedicated @wallet bot on the app to allow users to send USDT coins to other Telegram users within the chats on the app.
The update props up Telegram’s utility for crypto participants, allowing users to seamlessly send digital assets in the same way they would send an emoji or a gif to their contacts. Also, Tether’s stablecoin stands to gain adoption from over 700 million monthly active users who chat with the messaging app.
Stablecoins like Tether’s USDT offer an off-ramp for crypto users to access fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar. These tokens are also exempt from the volatility synonymous with digital assets, except in extreme cases where Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) depegged due to the U.S. banking crisis earlier in March.
Telegram’s TON Project
The messaging app forayed into blockchain and crypto with the development of Telegram Open Network or TON back in 2018 by founders Parel Durov and Nikolai Durov. Two years later, the messaging app moved to sunset the project amid regulatory battles with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
However, independent developers and Telegram proponents picked up the reigns on TON, rebranding the project to The Open Network in a bid to sustain the network. The so-called TON Foundation was eventually founded to support crypto integration and adoption within the telegram app.
The TON development community furthered the project by building a wallet bot to power digital asset transactions for Telegram users. While the messaging app entrusted TON’s future to the community, the company has kept ties with blockchain tech and was exploring NFTs as of August 2022.