Telegram’sWallet bot is enabling merchants to accept Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) through the messaging app.
Wallet, a Telegram bot built on The Open Network (TON) blockchain that allows users to transfer cryptocurrencies within chats, has launched a crypto payment solution.
In a Thursday tweet, TON said the new payment functionality is immediately accessible in all regions supported by the wallet service
“Cryptocurrency payments on Telegram just got easier with Wallet Pay: a payment service developed by the wallet team specifically for the Telegram ecosystem,” the team said in the tweet.
HOW TO RECIEVE PAYMENTS VIA TELEGRAM’S WALLET BOT
To receive crypto payments on Telegram, merchants must first apply on the Wallet Pay website.
According to the Wallet chatbot team, there are already approximately 200 companies in the queue to implement the product, with thousands of small businesses expected to apply in the future.
Users can create a new crypto wallet instantly linked to their Telegram account, without the need to save seed phrases or private keys.
Telegram’s venture into cryptocurrency began years ago with the development of the TON blockchain project.
However, due to legal battles with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the project was abandoned in 2020.
The TON community, known as The TON Foundation, has since taken over the project and continued its development.
Despite the availability of cryptocurrency services on Telegram for over a year, only a fraction of the platform’s massive user base has adopted Wallet services.
Out of over 700 million Telegram members, only 2 million use Wallet.
It is worth noting that Telegram is not the only social media platform that has integrated crypto payments over the past few years.
Last year, Twitter teamed up with Stripe, an online payments company, to allow merchants to pay their customers in cryptocurrencies.