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Topics Covered
Telegram's Origins and Evolution
TON’s Emerging Ecosystem
Strategic Investments and Partnerships
TLDR🏃♂️
Telegram, evolving beyond a messaging platform, pioneers blockchain solutions with The Open Network (TON) to cater to a vast user base of nearly 900 million.
Backed by strategic investments and initiatives, including partnerships with Pantera Capital and integration with Travala, Telegram aims to expand its ecosystem with high-usage applications, paving the way to compete with global giants like WeChat in the super app landscape.
Full Analysis📝
Paving the Way to Becoming a Super App
In the rapidly evolving world of digital communication and finance, Telegram has emerged as a pioneering force, not only as a leading messaging platform but also as a hub for innovative blockchain solutions.
Central to this evolution is The Open Network (TON), a blockchain project initially developed by Telegram to bring decentralized applications, fast transactions, and secure smart contracts to its vast user base.
Like the origins of Telegram, founder Pavel Durov’s middle finger to the Russian government, TON and its token was a response to the United States’ Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Since its beginning, Telegram now has nearly 900 million users, making it one of the most popular messaging applications in the world. By leveraging its large user base, Telegram is in a greater position to become a super app, as discussed in a previous CryptoJeter article, Telegram and The Challenge to Becoming a Super App.
With more people becoming more concerned about security and the conversation around data freedoms being very polarizing, Telegram is designed to provide unparalleled data security and permissionless conversation.
This commitment to security and freedom is further exemplified by The Open Network (TON), Telegram’s ambitious blockchain project. The TON blockchain is becoming attractive to developers as there has been a strong focus on DeFi and GameFi applications. This figures to be evolving as well as the TON Foundation was launched in 2023.
Amid growing security concerns and debates on data freedom, Telegram leverages its vast user base to provide unparalleled data security and permissionless communication while pushing the boundaries of blockchain innovation with The Open Network (TON).
Tapping into Emerging Markets with Decentralized Applications
The team at Telegram realized years ago that it needed to bring decentralized applications, fast transactions, and secure smart contracts to its vast user base. Now with nearly a billion users, the need to provide unparalleled value is more than true.
Like the broader crypto industry, Telegram has gained its product-market fit primarily in emerging markets. According to the world population review, 38 percent of the app’s usage comes from Asia and 21 percent of the users come from Latin America. In comparison, nearly eight percent of users currently come from Africa. This widespread adoption in diverse regions underscores Telegram's appeal and effectiveness in providing secure communication and innovative financial solutions to populations whose needs for privacy, low-cost transactions, and reliable communication infrastructure differ significantly from those in developed countries.
According to GSMA, over 50 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans have smartphones, in economies that tend to be mobile first. This is likely driven by the continent's significant under-20 population. While the population growth in other regions has slowed, Africa’s has increased by 2.42% per year for the past 30 years. Ultimately, the population in many African countries is expected to explode.
This signals opportunities for developers to build applications within Telegram. The applications will have a utility that has real-world impact and it starts with DeFi. Moreover, Telegram has already positioned itself to be able to achieve this impact. The app currently has a wallet embedded in it, which can connect to decentralized applications within the TON ecosystem.
The wallet functionality also positions Telegram to be used for peer-to-peer payments which could serve as a massive opportunity for the application.
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TON and Telegram Drive Innovation in Payments, Gaming, and Beyond
With payment companies joining the stablecoin race, TON could be a blockchain they explore. Recently, Pantera Capital, who is looking to drive more funds to the TON ecosystem, shared that TON’s USDT in circulation has exceeded over 400 million dollars.
Payments can also exist within the leading dApps if they continue to evolve over time. Some predict that TON-based games, Notcoin and Hamster Combat will have risen as Axie Infinity did. Games within Telegram also propel the application toward being able to compete with WeChat, an app that has over 400 million users playing mobile games.
Telegram also seems to appreciate the value that games and other dApps bring to the TON ecosystem. With the app securing more traction, Telegram's stars payment system is poised to become a crucial tool for mass crypto adoption, enabling seamless transactions and fostering greater engagement within the platform's expanding ecosystem.
Along with games, Telegram will be used as a medium that would align with the company’s ambitions of competing with WeChat. WeChat enables developers to build mini-programs that appear to be synonymous with the vision that Telegram is striving for. Like WeChat, Telegram wants to bring more developers to build mini-applications within the platform. One of the ways that they will drive new dApps to the platform is through the aforementioned “Stars” payment. Developers will use stars to promote their apps virtually commission-free.
Along with the games that have gained popularity on Telegram, the app platform just secured a partnership with Travala, a crypto-native travel booking service with 2,200,000+ properties in 230 countries, 400,000+ activities, and 600+ airlines globally. This is an example of the growing utility Telegram delivers.
In Web3, the TON mini app ecosystem spans a wide variety of industries including SocialFi, infrastructure, marketplaces, wallets, and fundraising. Assuming that the TON ecosystem continues to grow and as web3 becomes more interoperable, more projects will continue to expand to the TON network.
Strategic Investments and the Future of Telegram
Telegram was founded by Pavel Durov who is one of the early developers of the modern social network. He created an equivalent to Facebook in Russia, but due to government pressures, was forced to flee the country. This resulted in the creation of Telegram. Along with Pavel, his brother was also an influential figure in the development of the application. Remarkably, Telegram appears to have a very small team but has a large impact.
The Telegram team has also prioritized equity as it has chosen to take on bonds from top-tier organizations like Dubai investment firm, Mubadala and Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners. By raising funds this way, the team has more control over the direction of the company and can chart its own course with regard to growth and scale. It’s a model that may work for certain founders in the future whose primary focus is on scaling their communities.
Concerning the TON network, Pantera Capital has been a significant investor and is looking to increase its investment position. This focus shows the potential the ecosystem has and will give TON significant financial capital to attract developers at a more rapid pace.
Transforming From a Messaging App to a Super App
Despite Telegram’s existing traction, there is still an opportunity for growth. The TON network is receiving backing to drive new products to the market while benefiting from mobile-first economies. As the quality of Telegram improves, the better attraction it has to bring the best web2 and web3 products to the market.
Telegram and the TON Network have both created initiatives and features that aim to drive those devs to build within Telegram. The users will also grow as new games and experiences are built within the application. Once Telegram can achieve a bunch of high-usage applications, it will be on a more linear progression toward competing with WeChat. Ultimately, this development has the potential to transform Telegram into a super app, seamlessly integrating communication, payments, and diverse digital services in a single platform.