Users can now pay merchants directly in crypto on Telegram via an independent chatbot called Wallet.
The wallet chatbot is built on the TON blockchain and Telegram and provides a way to store, trade and transfer three cryptocurrencies: Toncoin (TON), Tethers USDT Tronand Bitcoin (BTC).
The wallet chatbot team today launched a new feature, the Wallet Pay API, which allows merchants to receive crypto payments directly through Telegram.
It is an unofficial crypto technology integration not developed by Telegram developers Telegram FZ LLC and Telegram Messenger Inc.
TON stands for The Open Network and is a Layer 1 blockchain network based on the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism and originally developed by the Telegram team. Toncoin (TON) is The Open Network’s native gas payment token.
In May 2020, Telegram abandoned the project after a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
How to receive crypto via Telegram?
Merchants must first apply on the Wallet Pay website to receive crypto payments via Telegram.
A spokesperson for the chatbot team told Decrypt that “about 200 businesses are already in the queue to implement the product,” adding that they “expect thousands of small businesses to apply to use Wallet Pay.”
Users need to add @wallet as a new contact on Telegram and create a new crypto wallet that is instantly linked to their Telegram account. There is no need to store seed phrases or private keys.
“A Telegram account is required for each user to use Wallet and access basic USDT transfers – this can be created using a regular phone number or an anonymous tokenized phone number created by Telegram on the TON blockchain,” the spokesperson told Decrypt.
The team added a demo retailer for a fake demo retailer called Pineapple Store. The user experience was relatively smooth as users can view the store’s items and make payments in Telegram chat themselves.
Demo payment with TON on Telegram. Image: Telegram.
Regarding the future addition of new coins, the spokesperson replied, “We are considering adding a few more major coins in the future, but our focus will be on TON.”
Despite this focus, Decrypt’s transaction logs on test payment do not show gas fees paid in the network’s native TON token.
Telegram previously had usernames as auctioned NFTs on the TON blockchain.
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