Telegram launched as a simple messaging app in 2013. Today, it has become a major player in the cryptocurrency space, integrating the TON blockchain.
When brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov founded Telegram, the startup gained massive popularity due to its focus on privacy and speed.
In the following years, Telegram underwent a major transformation: it transformed from a communication tool into a major platform for crypto users and applications.
In this article, we will revisit Telegram’s journey, from its initial foray into blockchain technology with the TON Blockchain to its legal battles with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and its current influential role in the crypto community.
Telegram’s Origins and the Shift to Cryptocurrencies
As mentioned earlier, Telegram started out as a messaging app – with strong security features and an easy-to-use interface. It used encrypted chats and large group chats.
Telegram’s introduction of bots in 2015 was a major breakthrough. It allowed users of the app to automate tasks, manage groups, and even facilitate complex interactions.
As the platform grew, Telegram introduced voice calls in 2017 and video calls in 2020, further enhancing its communication capabilities.
It continued to evolve with the launch of Channels, which provided a new way for users to broadcast messages to large audiences. This tool was further enhanced with Channel Stories, a feature that allows users to share ephemeral content through a unique dual-camera function and detailed privacy settings.
It also introduced a transparent and fair rewards distribution system within the channels, allowing users to win real prizes.
But the Durov brothers had a broader vision for Telegram that went beyond just messaging. They sought to create a decentralized platform that would change the way people engage in digital transactions and communications.
This vision led to the creation of the Telegram Open Network blockchain. The goal was to build a high-performance blockchain capable of processing millions of transactions per second while seamlessly integrating with the Telegram messaging platform.
The project promises to introduce new features such as decentralized applications, smart contracts, and the native cryptocurrency Gram.
TON Blockchain Development
The TON Blockchain got its start in earnest when Pavel Durov released a whitepaper in 2018 outlining its technological advancements and potential.
Originally intended to integrate cryptocurrency and blockchain features into the Telegram ecosystem, TON’s creators designed it with scalability in mind. It was supposed to handle millions of transactions per second, a feat it aimed to achieve through a multi-blockchain architecture and a unique sharding mechanism.
The mechanism divides the blockchain into a main chain, which manages the overall network, and multiple working chains, each capable of operating independently.
To achieve this dream, Telegram sought to raise funds through an initial coin offering. Prior to that, the company had raised around $1.7 billion from 175 Investors in a private sale of its native token Gram.
But the success was short-lived. Shortly after the presale, the SEC took a regulatory swipe at the platform.
Legal battle with the SEC
In October 2019, the SEC filed a complaint against Telegram, alleging that the company conducted an unregistered securities offering by selling Gram tokens. The SEC claimed that these tokens were securities and should have been registered under U.S. securities laws.
The legal battle culminated in a landmark decision in March 2020 when a US federal court ruled in favor of the SEC, halting the distribution of Gram tokens.
As a result, Telegram shelved the project and eventually abandoned it in May 2020. It also agreed to return funds raised in a pre-ICO event to investors and pay a civil penalty of $18.5 million.
Telegram felt the impact of the decision, which also sent shockwaves through the broader crypto industry, highlighting the regulatory challenges facing blockchain projects.
Once Telegram went down, a group of independent developers stepped in and continued building TON, now renamed The Open Network. This ensured the project’s survival.
Now, a nonprofit organization, the TON Foundation, based in Zug, Switzerland, is supporting the development of the tool. Steve Yun is the president of the TON Foundation, while Andrew Rogozov, the former CEO of the Russian social networking site VK, is a founding member.
Throughout 2021 and 2022, the TON community focused on improving the network architecture, implementing dynamic sharding, and improving the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
Continued support and integration of Telegram
Although she is no longer the architect behind TON’s development, Telegram has continued to support the platform. For example, in September 2023, the messaging service, which had over 800 million users at the time, integrated the self-custodial wallet TON Space.
This integration was followed by the introduction of an advertising revenue sharing scheme last March, where payments are made exclusively in Toncoin (TON), the successor to Gram, thus fostering further engagement with the TON ecosystem.
In September 2023, Telegram officially endorsed TON, announcing that the blockchain and its associated token are “Official web3 infrastructure“This move has caught the attention of investors and led to significant gains for the TON token.
As a result, the total value locked on TON exceeded $300 million on May 27, 2024, marking a significant milestone supported by the TON Foundation’s Community Rewards Program.
Telegram’s current role in encryption
Despite its disappointment at not being able to build the TON network on its own, Telegram has continued to play a pivotal role in the crypto space. The messaging app has become a central hub for the crypto community, providing a platform for discussion, collaboration, and information sharing.
Telegram groups and channels are widely used for advertising, trading signals, and community building within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Additionally, the platform’s influence in the crypto space has been boosted by recently introducing new features that cater to the needs of crypto users, such as an in-app digital marketplace and integration with popular wallets like Trust Wallet.
Telegram’s partnership with Trust Wallet will allow the crypto wallet to tap into the messaging app’s massive user base, with a focus on game and decentralized app funding. It will also allow Trust Wallet’s 100 million users to send and receive TON tokens.
Furthermore, TON announced that it will soon support Tether (USDT) tokens on its blockchain, allowing Telegram users to send the stablecoin within the app.
News of the development boosted TON’s value, sending it to $7.63 on April 11 from around $2.21 a year ago, according to CoinGecko data.
At the time of writing, the price of the TON token is $5.46, giving the cryptocurrency a total value of $13.7 billion and making it the tenth-largest digital asset by market cap, behind Dogecoin (DOGE).
Appearance of small applications and the game system by pressing the screen
On July 31, Telegram announced the launch of a new in-app browser, expanding its blockchain capabilities and user experience. The announcement follows the introduction of a mini-app store earlier in the month by the company’s CEO Pavel Durov.
This new browser will allow Telegram’s vast user base to access TON, a decentralized website platform. The browser offers features similar to traditional web browsers and integrates web browsing with messaging, according to one of Telegram’s founders.
Additionally, you can access the Telegram mini app store through the app’s search feature. According to the announcement, 500 million of Telegram’s 950 million users interact with mini apps every month, and they can now find all their mini apps in one unified place.
The ecosystem also introduces “Stars,” a new in-app payment unit launched on June 7. Users can send stars to friends and use them to make transactions within mini-apps, which can later be exchanged for Toncoin.
Telegram mini-apps have been a huge success. Popular apps like Notcoin (NOT) and Hamster Kombat attract millions of users worldwide. On Notcoin, users earn tokens by completing social challenges. The game has amassed over 35 million users in five months and has a market cap of $1.15 billion at the time of writing.
Hamster Kombat, a cryptocurrency exchange management simulation game, is no boring game. It has become one of the fastest growing Web3 apps, with over 300 million users since its launch in March 2024.
The project is planning to launch a massive airdrop of its native token, HMSTR, on the TON network, an operation it has described as “the largest airdrop in cryptocurrency history.”
According to crypto.news, Hamster Kombat plans to distribute at least 60% of the HMSTR supply to the game’s players on Telegram.
Another noteworthy mini-app, Catizen, which launched alongside Hamster Kombat, has attracted over 27 million active users. This success has led to HashKey Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment firm, investing in the app’s publisher, Pluto Studio.
However, despite the excitement, some delays have frustrated users. The highly anticipated airdrops of HMSTR and Catizen’s CATI tokens were expected to launch on the TON blockchain in July but both have been delayed.
Catizen cited planning challenges, including securing exchanges, ensuring liquidity, and compliance issues, as reasons for the delay. Similarly, Hamster Kombat explained that the complexity of the technical task led to the delay in the token launch.
looking forward
Telegram’s entry into the cryptocurrency and digital asset market is a testament to its vision of becoming a comprehensive digital ecosystem. With its monetization approach and the success of its mini-apps, the messaging platform is positioning itself for continued growth in the crypto space.
Telegram also appears to be planning IPO. In his first interview since 2017, Pavel Durov revealed plans for the messaging app’s financial future, including a potential IPO.
In addition, Durov He said Telegram aims to become profitable by 2025, if not sooner, the Financial Times reported on March 11.
Since 2021, Telegram has raised $2 billion through bond issues, with bondholders reportedly set to receive a 10-20% discount on the IPO if it happens before March 2026.
Telegram’s journey from a mere messaging app to a major player in the crypto space is a testament to its ability to adapt and innovate. Despite facing regulatory challenges and setbacks, it has remained a vital platform for the crypto community.
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