By Nimrod Lehavi
Compiled by: Vernacular Blockchain
For years, Web3 innovators and investors have tried to drive adoption among audiences in established verticals such as trading, gaming or social. However, it has been difficult to convince users to switch from Web2 applications to Web3 applications due to the lack of familiarity and name recognition of well-known brands and services.
Now, the symbiotic relationship between Web2 messaging app Telegram and the TON blockchain appears to be creating Web3’s biggest success story yet. It offers an elegant way to put technology directly into the hands of millions of users — without requiring them to download new apps or deal with any learning curve.
To be clear, Telegram, which has 900 million users worldwide, is not a direct sponsor or partner of the TON blockchain. But the latter was originally a fork of the former, and after regulatory intervention forced their separation, the TON platform is now independently developed by the TON Foundation. However, the two projects are inseparable, and the emerging blockchain is benefiting from Telegram's large global user base. Recently, Tether began issuing USDT on TON, enabling all Telegram users to send and withdraw the largest stablecoin for free.
The killer feature of this partnership is Telegram’s Mini Apps (TMAs). TMAs are lightweight JavaScript-based services that run directly within the Telegram messaging interface. They are simple to set up and configure, making them easy to use and usable for almost any application scenario. When combined with Telegram’s payment integration, the concept becomes even more expansive, supporting features such as shopping, banking, in-game payments, and more. From a Web3 perspective, Mini Apps can also be decentralized applications that run on the blockchain.
Currently, the two biggest hits to emerge from the TON ecosystem are (perhaps unsurprisingly) games, sparking a new trend known as “click to earn.” The addictive Notcoin allows users to earn tokens by simply tapping the screen and completing various tasks, while the latest hit game, Hamster Kombat, describes itself as a “cryptocurrency trading platform CEO simulator game.” The former has already attracted 3% of all Telegram users, while the latter has reportedly amassed an impressive 19 million users since its launch in late March.
However, perhaps in order to keep some distance from TON in the eyes of regulators, Telegram remains platform-agnostic. Therefore, TMA is not limited to TON developers - in principle, developers from the entire Web3 space can deploy applications to messaging services like Telegram in the future and thus reach an already established user base.
What specific aspects of this partnership are you most excited about? Is it Telegram’s TMA functionality, popular games in the TON ecosystem, or other Web3-related innovations?
TON still dominates the TMA scene, but scalable Layer 1 decentralized application platform Vara Network recently introduced its developer community to how to leverage this functionality in their own applications and tap into Telegram's user base. Imagine a one-stop service that integrates a DeFi dashboard, NFT marketplace, or unbiased on-chain games, all of which can be navigated through a simple messaging interface.
This is a far cry from what Web3 users are accustomed to. User experience has been the biggest pain point in the Web3 space so far, requiring wallets, self-custody arrangements, and dealing with a lack of interoperability. Mini apps eliminate these issues, streamlining the user experience to something most of us are already familiar with.
While it’s still early days and crypto stories are often filled with hype, TMA provides an elegant on-ramp to finally tap into the large user base already established in Web2. A killer user interface accessible from the Web3 realm seems to have all the makings of a growing success story.
