Telegram: The Next Big Consumer Platform for Brands?
Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️
Today we’re going to deep dive into one of the most exciting consumer engagement platforms: Telegram.
If you haven't, you should pay attention. Here's why:
Recently, Telegram announced it brings crypto to 900M users, including payments, a layer 1 network, and a plethora of apps and games seamlessly integrated into the chat interface.
Buckle up, folks. Telegram is a huge opportunity for brands as a new engagement and data acquisition channel.
In our deep dive, we’ll look at:
- The TON Ecosystem
- TON, Gaming, and data acquisition
- TON: The next super-payment app?
- So what?
- What’s next
Ready? Let’s jump in.
Telegram Goes Crypto: Wait, What?
Telegram is bringing crypto to 900M users.
What happened: Tether's USDT stablecoin with a $110B market cap was integrated into Telegram, the world's 4th largest messenger app, via TON, enabling peer-to-peer payments within the app.
Zooming in: TON (The Open Network), initially developed by Telegram in 2018, aimed to be a high-speed, scalable blockchain focusing on micropayments and dApps. After Telegram's legal issues with the SEC, the project was handed over to the TON Community, which formed the TON Foundation to continue its development.
In 2024, Telegram re-entered the TON ecosystem, launching an ad platform with shared revenue with creators where all ad payments are processed using Toncoin (TON), TON's native cryptocurrency through @wallet after endorsing TON blockchain as its "official Web3 infrastructure.”
Key Integration Features:
- TON Mini Apps: Lightweight applications within Telegram conversations, leveraging TON's blockchain for payments, storage, and decentralized services.
- Toncoin Payments: Telegram's ad platform now processes payments exclusively in Toncoin, highlighting the cryptocurrency's utility and promoting its adoption, powered with Tether (USDt) integration.
Why it matters: Web2's distribution edge and network helped platforms like Instagram's Threads and Coinbase’s Base grow rapidly. TON's integration with Telegram offers similar advantages. It saves time and money on user acquisition, leveraging Telegram's 900M users and infrastructure. This integration brings web3 to the mainstream with seamless user experiences through mini apps for gaming, payments, trading, and others.
The big picture: Through TON's wallet integrations on Telegram apps, you can accept crypto, trade coins, buy NFTs, stake, and literally everything from the chat interface.
This means: global, unrestricted P2P payments surpassing regional limitations of existing super app – and much more. Wow.
By the numbers:
- Telegram has over 900M monthly active users, primarily concentrated in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
- The Open Network (TON) hosts 650+ decentralized apps, boosted by popular "Tap-to-Earn" apps like Notcoin (NOT) and Hamster Combat (HAMSTER).
- It has exceeded Ethereum in daily active addresses transacting on-chain, with an average of 172K daily wallet activation.
- TON Foundation aims to onboard 30% of Telegram’s active users in the next 3-5 years.
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TON Ecosystem & Platform Overview
In recent months, TON has experienced remarkable growth:
- TON recently made its way into the Top 10 coins by market cap.
- TON’s total value locked (TVL) increased to $721M, the highest on record.
- Active monthly accounts on TON have increased six-fold to 38M since the beginning of 2024.
- Animoca Brands: Animoca Brands has officially become the largest validator for TON, to integrate web2 to web3 gaming, focusing on scalability and mainstream adoption through TON Play and validator status.
TON is more than a blockchain: It's becoming a super-ecosystem of thousands of apps, games, decentralized storage, websites, and more – all running on the TON blockchain.
Here’s an overview of the infrastructure layers:
- TON Storage: Decentralized file storage with blockchain hashing.
- TON Sites: Host decentralized services for complex dApps and transactions.
- TON DNS: Human-readable names for accounts and smart contracts.
- TON Proxy: Supports decentralized VPNs for enhanced privacy.
- TON Services: Runs applications and smart contracts.
- TON Payments: Facilitates off-chain micropayments with on-chain settlements.
Its feature set is roughly comparable to other popular layer 1 chains, but its integration into Telegram is its killer feature:
- Scalability: Handles millions of transactions per second, ideal for high-speed apps.
- Security: Utilizes dynamic sharding and "workchains" for fast, efficient, and secure transactions.
- Telegram Integration: Seamlessly integrates with Telegram, with mini apps and TON payments.
- dApps: Supports complex dApps including DeFi, NFTs, gaming, and memecoins.
- Stablecoins: Partnered with Tether to launch USDt, which enables easy, instant cross-border payments.
- Built-in Services: Make development easy with services like identity verification, messaging, and asset management.
Money moves:
- TON has raised more than $504M, led by Bybit, OKX, Hashkey Group, BitGo, Fireblocks, Pantera Capital, Tether, and others.
- The ecosystem’s growth is fueled by Telegram's $69M annual revenue, ad platform, and Toncoin payments, allowing channel owners to earn 50% of ad revenue.
- USDT on TON has surpassed $500M in net circulation in less than two months.
- The Open League has been a game changer for the TON ecosystem by allocating over $150M in TON prizes to community members and projects and free Telegram Ads credits to top-performing projects.
Timeline:
- 2018: Telegram released Telegram Open Network
- 2018: Telegram Open Network raised $1.7B in private sale
- 2019: SEC sues Telegram
- 2020: Telegram dissolves TON and pays SEC
- 2020-21: NewTON was formed
- 2021: NewTON rebranded to TON (The Open Network) Foundation
- 2023: Telegram x TON
- 2024: Telegram ad platform via TON blockchain
- 2024: The Open League
Decentralized Finance Apps
- TON TVL has increased by 82% in Q2 2024, driven mainly by heightened DEX activity and the growing market dominance of the liquid staking protocol, Tonstakers.
- The surge in popularity of meme and gaming jettons like Notcoin attracted significant trading volume to TON DEXs including DeDust and STON.fi.
- TON USDt, launched in April 2024, has 215K+ holders and an average daily transfer volume of $155M.
Decentralized Exchanges
- DeDust ($277.44M) and STON.fi ($247.93M) have emerged as leading DEXes on TON, driven by enhanced liquidity pools and the integration of Telegram Mini Apps for streamlined trading experiences.
- TON DEXes see a $54M daily trading volume with 50K active traders.
- $TOL, the Open League MEME community token, has contributed 17.3% to the total DEX TVL on TON, followed by Notcoin (2.7%).
The big picture: A New Super-Chain?
- TON is focused on building a strong developer network and onboarding projects that can make blockchain mainstream through Telegram exposure and bridging web2 and web3 tools.
- With the development of social games (e.g. Notcoin, which skyrocketed to 35M active users within the first months), Telegram is enabling TON to attract massive users to the web3 ecosystem with easy onboarding, opening new revenue streams like in-app purchases, subscriptions, advertising, and payments.
A New Payment Platform
TON powers payment solutions within Telegram for businesses to transact TON, USDt, and jettons with an invoice-based approach, enabling a simple, borderless experience for peer-to-peer (P2P) payments.
Toncoin: TON (Toncoin) is the native cryptocurrency of the TON blockchain, powers network operations, covering transaction fees, staking, and governance.
Jettons: Jettons are a type of token on the TON blockchain, designed to facilitate asset management and offer enhanced functionality for developers and users.
Key facts you need to know:
- Tether integration: With USDt integration, TON taps into Tether's extensive user base of over 300M and deep liquidity, enabling fast, easy low-cost global transactions with the stability and cross-border familiarity of USDT.
- Expanded merchant acceptance: Oobit partners with TON and Tether, enabling Toncoin holders to "Tap & Pay" at 100M+ global retailers, focusing on the unbanked and expanding USDt transactions.
- Commission-free payments: Telegram distinguishes itself by not charging commissions for utilizing its Payments API and safeguarding sensitive user information, contrasting with traditional payment providers' practices.
- Seamless integration: Telegram offers seamless integration of messaging and payment functionalities, facilitating cross-border transactions and enabling developers to circumvent restrictions imposed by major app stores on in-app purchases
- HashKey: TON partners with HashKey Group to facilitate crypto on-ramping in Hong Kong, aiming to expand across Asia-Pacific, leveraging Telegram's messaging platform.
- Transak: It will help TON to enable global USDT transactions.
Why it’s important: TON Payments allows users to transact directly within Telegram without extra signups. This offers businesses access to Telegram's 900M users.
Key benefits include:
- Near-instant, low-cost payments, which is crucial for mainstream adoption in micropayments, in-app purchases, and remittances.
- Incentives through Telegram ad revenue sharing (users buy channel advertisements with TON and plan to share 50% of ad revenue with owners of public channels).
- User experience similar to Venmo or Apple Cash.
- Simple, cost-effective cross-border payments.
Challenges:
- Regulatory hurdles (e.g. complying with varying Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations across different jurisdictions)
- Competing with established players like PayPal and Stripe, which have large, established user bases.
A New Gaming & App Platform
The TON ecosystem plans to acquire and bring mainstream users to web3 through games by leveraging the Telegram API for TWAs, which allows games to be launched and played seamlessly within the main Telegram app.
- Telegram mini apps provide a seamless user experience, enhancing web3 accessibility by integrating decentralized applications within the familiar Telegram interface.
- They allow developers to build games with any existing game engine that supports HTML5 or WebGL — including Unity, Phaser, PixiJS, BabylonJS, Cocos2d, and others.
- TON games can be designed to appeal to both Web 2.0 (enjoying gameplay) and Web 3.0 users (interested in crypto and blockchain features).
Monetization: Developers on TON can monetize high-quality games through NFT sales, in-game tokens, and in-app ads.
By the numbers:
- Currently, over 120 games are built on the TON blockchain.
- Notcoin, built on TON, has the largest GameFi token launch in 2024, with over $1.2B in transaction volume since the launch.
- Hamster Kombat, the largest game on Telegram, has surpassed 150M users on the platform.
Why it matters: Telegram boasts a large Web2 user base incorporating "play-to-earn" mechanics that solve Web3 games' short life cycles. Its inherent social features allow users to connect with friends, share experiences, and potentially even trade in-game items or crypto, hence bringing a new approach to communicating with users like Notcoin.
Notcoin
- Notcoin (NOT) is an explore-to-earn token built on TON that has attracted over 35M users with 6M DAUs.
- It contributes to the TON ecosystem by attracting users and potentially fostering collaboration between TON-based projects.
- Accessible through Telegram, Notcoin has organically generated 94% of its traffic through mutual invitations.
Catizen
- Catizen is another game on Telegram with a ‘play-to-airdrop’ model and has surpassed 17M players with over 1M on-chain players.
- Since its release, Catizen has generated $10M in in-game asset purchases across multiple cryptocurrencies, including Toncoin (TON) and Tether.
- Catizen aims to become a mini-app hub, integrating Launchpool with short videos and e-commerce, and has agreements for 18 mini-games with over 50M downloads.
Other popular games on TON include Fanton Fantasy, Nakamoto Games, Yescoin, TapSwap, and JetTon Games.
TON also emerged as a popular chain for launching Memecoins, enabled through Wonton.fun, a similar platform to the Pump.fun platform on Solana. Pump.fun has crossed $30M in revenues. In June, Pump.fun generated more fees than MakerDAO and nearly double of Uniswap. Wonton.fun is going to play a crucial role in the mainstream adoption of TON.
Looking ahead: TON has not restricted itself to just technical growth and hence catering to Telegram users through games, memes, and incentive programs. Tokens like Notcoin have received great on-chain traction without any intrinsic token value, adding value to DeFi projects on the chain. Memecoin launchpads like Gas Pump have also joined the ecosystem.
The Big Opportunity for Brands
For brands, Telegram could emerge as the next big consumer super-platform of the West that combines messaging, applications, gaming, payments, and other features for 1B+ users. This is a massive opportunity for brands to use Telegram as a new engagement and data acquisition channel.
The talk of the town among brands to engage next-gen consumers is Roblox. It boasts 300M monthly active users, mostly Gen Z.
Now, a brand created a mini-game for Telegram, reaching 3x the amount of users.
Mini-games in Telegram are more accessible and convenient, leading to higher engagement rates. Plus, data collection tools for brands are more powerful than on Roblox: Telegram mini-games can collect a broader range of data, including user demographics, engagement patterns, social interactions, and even feedback through chat or surveys. Brands often have more direct access to and control over data collected from Telegram mini-games.
The payment integration makes this even more powerful.
Example 1: Notcoin
Notcoin (NOT) is a cryptocurrency and a gamified ecosystem primarily built on the Telegram messaging app and powered by the TON (The Open Network) blockchain. It gained immense popularity due to its simple "tap-to-earn" mechanic, where users tap on a virtual coin to earn NOT tokens.
Key features of Notcoin:
- Tap-to-Earn: Users tap on a virtual coin within the Telegram app to accumulate NOT tokens. The gameplay includes boosters, quests, and leaderboards to enhance the earning potential.
- Social Integration: Leveraging Telegram's social features, users can compete with friends, share referral links, and participate in community challenges.
- TON Blockchain Integration: NOT tokens are built on the TON blockchain, ensuring fast and secure transactions and interoperability with other TON-based projects and services.
Notcoin demonstrates the potential for rapid user acquisition through a simple, gamified model integrated with a popular platform like Telegram.
Example 2: Fashion Brand
A fashion brand could create a mini-game on Telegram where users style virtual avatars with the brand's clothing and accessories. Players could earn rewards in the form of discounts or exclusive items, redeemable through TON Payments. This gamified approach would drive engagement, generate valuable data, and directly translate to increased sales. By combining the power of TON Payments with the engaging nature of mini-games, consumer brands can create immersive experiences that drive brand loyalty, increase sales, and unlock new revenue opportunities within the vast Telegram ecosystem.
6 Key Opportunities for Brands
Direct Access to a Massive Audience:
Telegram boasts 900 million users, offering brands a vast potential customer base that they can engage directly within the app.
Mini-games can attract and retain users' attention; engagement rates are massive.
Seamless In-App Purchases and Transactions:
TON Payments' integration with Telegram enables seamless in-app purchases using TON, USDT, or Jettons, eliminating friction and streamlining the customer journey.
This simplifies microtransactions within mini-games, making it easier for users to buy virtual goods, power-ups, or access premium content.
Gamified Marketing and Rewards:
Brands can leverage mini-games to create gamified marketing campaigns that reward user engagement with discounts, exclusive content, or loyalty points.
This gamified approach can boost brand awareness, drive customer loyalty, and encourage repeat purchases.
Data Collection and Personalization:
By integrating mini-games with TON Payments, brands can collect valuable data on user preferences, purchasing behavior, and demographics.
This data can be used to personalize marketing efforts, tailor product offerings, and enhance the overall customer experience.
New Revenue Streams:
Brands can explore new revenue streams through in-app purchases, subscriptions, and even the creation of their own custom jettons.
The ability to directly monetize user engagement within Telegram.
Cross-Border Reach:
TON Payments' focus on simple, cost-effective cross-border payments can be particularly appealing for international brands seeking to expand their reach and tap into new markets.
This can facilitate global transactions and open up opportunities for brands to cater to a diverse customer base.
Next Steps for Brand Leaders
Brands can create similar gamified experiences integrated with messaging platforms like Telegram or other social media channels to achieve similar goals. Here's how:
Develop a Simple, Engaging Game:
Design a game with easy-to-understand mechanics that encourage frequent interaction and competition.
Incorporate social elements to foster a sense of community and encourage users to share the game with friends.
Collect and Analyze Data:
Implement robust data collection mechanisms to gather information on user behavior, preferences, and demographics.
Utilize analytics tools to derive insights from the collected data and inform marketing strategies.
Monetize the Experience:
Explore various monetization options like in-app purchases, subscriptions, or advertising.
Offer exclusive rewards or benefits to users who engage with the brand's products or services within the game.
If you’re interested in building a mini-game, reach out to us here or by replying to this email.
So What?
Devil’s Advocate: TON has its own architecture and its non-EVM compatibility creates an entry barrier for developers to bring robust projects on TON, compared to the web3 ecosystem. Currently, the majority of the projects that are gaining traction are either gaming or tap-to-earn projects and the DeFi ecosystem doesn’t feel so strong.
TON, backed by Telegram and major VCs, is set to be a major player in Web3. It integrates in-app purchases, gamified marketing, and data collection within Telegram, offering brands new ways to engage users and generate revenue. This seamless integration facilitates in-app purchases and enhances user engagement and loyalty through gamified marketing while providing robust data collection.
However, TON faces some limitations, such as a limited presence in DeFi and competition with other payment options like Base, which is integrated with Stripe. Despite these challenges, TON's focus on creator revenue and its growing ecosystem demonstrate its lasting value. Watch this space.
That’s it for now, folks.
– Marc
✍️ Thanks Maja Vujinovic for contributing valuable inputs.