Telegram has announced that it will be adding support for cryptocurrencies on its messaging app. This opens up the possibility of payments through the app, which could be a major boon to adoption. 

Telegram has over 550 million users, so this could be a major push toward mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Users of the messaging app, Telegram, will soon be able to send and receive toncoin within the app. TON, which is the cryptocurrency of the Telegram platform, can only be sent within the app. However, @wallet, a bot that allows users to buy bitcoin, which is available on Telegram.

TON Foundation, the steward of the cryptocurrency project, will make sending TON feel like sending a text message. The bot has been used by 800,000 Telegram accounts and aims to make transactions more user-friendly.

"We anticipate that this functionality will extend into the consumer to business payments so that people can easily acquire goods and services by sending toncoin via bots in the Telegram app," the foundation said.

As one of the world's most popular social networks, Twitter is providing a platform for users to communicate, it also offers a payment feature through its Tips feature. 

This feature allows users to send tips to other users through Twitter. Twitter has added bitcoin payments over the Lightning Network for its Tips feature in September. This means that users can now use services like Jack Mallers Strike app to pay others using bitcoin.

Telegram abandoned the TON cryptocurrency project in August 2020 as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States (SEC).

Pavan A

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA