Telegram @Wallet Bot Now Lets Users Exchange Crypto With Each Other

Blockworks Exclusive: Sellers will pay a 0.9% commission on transactions, which the developers say are peer-to-peer

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • Buyers can use USD, EUR, UAH, BYN and KZT to purchase cryptocurrencies
  • Only toncoin (TON) and bitcoin (BTC) can be purchased for now and only TON can be transferred via chat messages

Developers behind the Telegram @Wallet Bot, which allows Telegram users to purchase cryptocurrencies with a bank card, exchange and transfer to other wallets, have launched a P2P cryptocurrency exchange.

The Wallet Bot launched in April, allowing Telegram users to buy toncoin (TON) and send it within chat messages. The latest update will allow sales of cryptocurrencies between users through the Telegram app, with the exchange services acting as guarantors for each transaction. In any case of disagreement between the seller and the buyer, the service will conduct a dispute resolution process.

Read more: What Are Seed Phrases and Are They Needed? The New Debate

The service is pitched as offering “anonymous P2P deals,” however, users must share their mobile phone number with the bot in order to deposit, exchange or purchase crypto.

Users who wish to sell cryptocurrencies will be paying a 0.9% commission, while buyers will not need to pay any fees, according to a statement by developers of the @Wallet bot.

To sell tokens, users will post notices in the app, which buyers can then select from. Buyers can use USD, EUR, UAH, BYN and KZT to purchase cryptocurrencies. 

Toncoin (TON) and bitcoin (BTC) are available for purchase at the moment, with plans to increase the offering at a later date, according to the company. Only TON is able to be sent between users directly through chats.

“It is aimed towards ordinary users and provides a low entry threshold for learning about blockchain. Many services on TON are similar to the usual applications that people are already used to using,” a TON Foundation representative told Blockworks.

“Without leaving Telegram you can buy cryptocurrency, send it to your friends using a short nickname without long wallet addresses, get access to the internet with the @mobile bot, pay for a subscription to your favorite Telegram channel along with many other services,” the representative said.

The TON blockchain that was originally founded by the Durov brothers, the founders of Telegram Messenger. Telegram previously intended to launch an official token, GRAM, but was prevented from doing so by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2020, forced to return $1.2 billion raised for the project to investors and pay an $18.5 million fine.

The TON Foundation “is a decentralized community started by Anatoliy Makosov and Kirill Emelyanenko after Telegram stepped away from the project,” according to its website.

“One of the goals is to merge blockchain technology with the traditional internet,” the spokesperson said. “In order to further this decentralized concept, TON is creating its own ecosystem, which already includes DNS, sites, and proxies.”

The total number of custodial wallet accounts has grown to 1.3 million according to a stats page provided by the group, however the Ton Scan block explorer was not displaying any information as of press time.

The TON community Telegram group has 630,000 subscribers.

The TON token is trading at $1.39 as of 9:00 am ET, with a market capitalization of about $1.7 billion and circulating supply of 1.22 billion TON, according to CoinMarketCap.

Macauley Peterson contributed reporting.

This story was updated on Oct. 4 at 10:09 am ET.


Don’t miss the next big story – join our free daily newsletter.

Tags

Upcoming Events

HYATT REGENCY SALT LAKE CITY

TUES, OCT. 8, 2024

Guided by the expertise of Blockworks Research Analysts team, this one day event will feature senior leaders, entrepreneurs, and developers from across the crypto industry. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an immersive experience to explore the latest trends, […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains […]

recent research

hivemapper.jpeg

Research

We believe crypto market participants overlook Hivemapper’s fundamental potential due to a poor understanding of both the niche map data market and Hivemapper’s positioning relative to incumbents. Hivemapper’s token model catalyzes both a cost and product advantage via unmatched map freshness and near real-time accuracy, which is its wedge into a market characterized by stale data and high data collection costs. Its current and potential future product suite may represent one of the strongest possibilities for PMF in crypto today.

article-image

The Fidelity Ethereum Fund, like other proposed ETH ETFs, seeks to stake a portion of its assets, according to the firm’s Wednesday registration statement

article-image

The DAO first voted on enabling SAFE transfers over a year ago

article-image

The final Bitcoin halving, where the mining reward becomes smaller than one satoshi, is expected to occur in 2140

article-image

The Department of Justice and Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced back-to-back lawsuits against KuCoin Tuesday

article-image

Judge Failla found that Coinbase didn’t operate as an unregistered broker in offering its wallet service

article-image

A fund by Laser Digital offers investors exposure to the Polygon network, while a new 21Shares ETP focuses on staking rewards from Toncoin