Crypto Quill

Listen to any crypto podcast or convention panel, and you will hear crypto enthusiasts speak of a killer app yet to come that will onboard the rest of the world. But what if it is already here? I argue that Telegram and a handful of independent developers have made more progress in onboarding the masses to crypto than the $100 billion in venture capital that has flooded the space since 2014.

From a Crypto Enthusiast’s Perspective

Throughout its early development and up until recently, crypto focused on niche tech development that primarily served crypto speculators and lacked real-world utility. With the arrival of spot ETFs and firms such as BlackRock opening up funds focused on asset tokenization, the time for evolution is now.

Telegram combined its messaging app boasting 800 million monthly active users, a blockchain providing rails for crypto adoption in TON, and a native wallet bot known simply as Wallet. Many crypto pitch decks vaguely romanticize the notion of “merging Web2 and Web3,” Telegram is actually doing it. With this combination, Telegram addresses the three core issues that held crypto back.

In my view, stablecoins are crypto’s greatest product to date. With native USDT on TON since April, the seamless transfer of value P2P became a reality. Users can send crypto to their friends as easily as sending a message on WhatsApp. This is a smoother UX than neobanks like Venmo or Revolut, and lightyears ahead of traditional banks.

The opportunity for onboarding hundreds of millions to crypto likely comes through Telegram’s Mini Apps—an open platform for businesses to build and deploy crypto-friendly apps. This will enable crypto teams to distribute their product to non-crypto natives while the end user will not necessarily know they are using a crypto product—whether that is a fun mobile game or a DeFi protocol.

From a Crypto Native’s Perspective

Telegram solidified its place in crypto long ago. It is a popular platform among crypto natives used to keep in touch or share ideas, and it is usually the first social media channel new crypto projects set up along with their X account. Recently, it became more than that for on-chain traders. A new generation of Telegram trading bots changed crypto UX forever, and perhaps changed on-chain trading forever. Buying/selling, setting limit orders, scanning new projects, sniping new launches, and copy trading “smart money,” all became simple with a single command.

Having a Telegram bot comprehensively freeing me from the most frustrating UX issues of on-chain trading was a breath of fresh air. It was one of the very rare times a crypto product made me say “wow, this is great.”