After Toncoin Hits All-Time High, Telegram Launches 'Stars' Coin Linked to TON
Fulfilling a promise made earlier this year, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced a new in-app currency on Thursday (6th) that will facilitate the purchase of digital goods and services within Telegram’s mini-app ecosystem supported by crypto.
The in-app currency, Stars, will be available for purchase with fiat currency through in-app purchases via iOS and Android, or directly within Telegram. Stars can then be used to buy digital products in Telegram’s mini-apps, such as Notcoin and Hamster Kombat, which are within the popular messaging app.
“With fast and easy-to-use payments for digital goods and services, the bot and mini-app platform will allow new types of businesses to reach over 900 million potential customers within Telegram,” the company said in a blog post today.
Soon, Durov said, Telegram developers will be able to withdraw their Stars in Toncoin (TON), Telegram’s favorite cryptocurrency on The Open Network. These transfers will occur on Fragment, Telegram’s marketplace for usernames and in-app ads.
Developers and vendors can then exchange their TON for other crypto, including USDT, the world's largest stablecoin, via the Wallet bot on Telegram.
In April, Durov announced that Telegram was partnering with Tether, the issuer of USDT, in a move designed to greatly increase the attractiveness of doing business on the privacy-focused messaging app.
He also revealed, at the Token 2049 crypto conference in Dubai, that Telegram will soon support the purchase of digital goods and services in-app, with developers taking home 70% of the revenue from such transactions.
Today, Durov further elaborated that Telegram will subsidize ads purchased with Stars, in an effort to encourage the use of the digital currency and avoid repeated 30% commission charges on new Stars purchases within the app by Apple and Google.
“The recent boom in mini-apps has already made Telegram the premier destination for launching new apps,” Durov said.
