Author: SanTi Li, Feng Yu, Nashida
summary:
As the Web3 industry continues to mature, the ecological potential of Telegram, an instant messaging software, and the value growth of the project itself are receiving further attention. Telegram is famous for its privacy, convenience and openness, and various projects developed based on TON, such as the TON public chain and derivatives, have also appeared in the internal ecosystem. Including BOT software and embedded projects developed based on Telegram chat windows, these have further enriched the overall value diversity of Telegram. The Ime Messenger version TG, which is different from the one embedded in the window, is more like giving it the wings of Web3, making the entire Telegram easier to use, perfect, optimized and rich. It is also more similar to the operating experience of VX payment.
This article will interpret its value from the perspectives of project foundation, team capabilities, characteristics analysis, valuation analysis, future long-term value, the relationship between Telegram and Ton, and doubts.
1. Basic introduction:
iMe is a multi-functional Web3 version software developed based on Telegram. It can be more quickly understood as a special enhanced version of Telegram's Web3. User accounts can seamlessly communicate with Telegram, and the content is fully synchronized, but the software needs to be downloaded separately.
In June 2021, iMe has 2.3 million users, with more than 200,000 daily active users. As of September 2024, iME will have 13 million users. The user growth rate in 3 years is about 565%. Since iME accounts and Telegram accounts are completely universal, TG's 900 million users can also use the iMe version of TG software seamlessly at any time.
Fig.1. iMe version user growth chart over the past 3 years
Perhaps due to the commonality of users between TG and iMe, as shown in Figure 1, the number of iMe users has increased significantly to more than 10 million users in three years. In terms of functions, the core differences can be briefly found from the comparison of the following set of figures:
Fig.2. Comparison between TG of iMe version and TG of Original version
It is obvious from the brief comparison of the pictures that iMe has added an additional multi-chain Wallet function based on the original version of Telegram, with built-in multi-chain Multichain assets and related Defi, Staking, payment or Binance trading service functions brought by Binance Pay. This allows users to easily apply Web3 functionality in TG software. (Currently supports BTC, BSC, ETH, SOL, TON, Base, Arb, Matic, TRON, ZKsync, OP, Manta, RON, Celo, Fantom, Blast and other 18 public chain assets) Users can directly send these assets to the wallets of iMe TG friends, and can use different assets to interact in group services. For example, through the Cryptobox function, airdrops and crypto red envelopes can be sent in telegram groups.
This development model also brings space for iMe to continuously add rich functions to software development and TG, and can complement and optimize the operational convenience that the original TG version could not optimize in time (such as sorting, AI functions, voice-to-text functions, real-time translation, etc.)
In particular, the real-time translation function based on Google Translate and Chatgpt perfectly solves the language dilemma of many Web3 workers. It can directly solve the language translation problem in the Telegram software, greatly increasing communication efficiency. The following figure shows the translation function of the APP version:
Fig.3. iMe version of TG adds real-time translation function
As we can see in Picture 2, the original version of Telegram does not provide instant translation function, but in the iMe version of Telegram, users can directly use the one-click translation function for the entire group conversation. The PC version has also been updated with a direct one-click translation function, which is very practical for users with language barriers. It can be seen that the iMe enhanced version of TG is more like the Web3 version of the VX ecosystem type.
The iMe team's additional contributions to Telegram as a whole include many details, such as operational optimization. Due to space limitations, it is not convenient to compare them one by one here. Interested readers can experience them in more detail on their own.
2. Token Economics
The total amount of $LIME is about 1 billion, and the circulation rate is about 61%. Since the lime token entered the regular destruction activity cycle in June, the LIME tokens obtained by the project party through gas fees and services provided will be frozen and destroyed regularly, so the total amount of tokens will gradually decrease, and the early selling pressure of VC and other parties has been completely released. At the beginning of 2024, the project's FDV experienced a relatively strong valuation rebound after more than two years of deep wash-out. After the valuation rose from a low of only about 8M to about 120M, it entered a correction period following the overall market.
As of around September 18, 2024, $Lime's FDV fluctuates around 37.5M.
Token functionality analysis:
Participate in various Defi services such as staking
Gas fees for transactions and operations, gas fees for transferring money between friends within Telegram, etc.
Purchase Telegram upgrades and special Ime versions
New: Users who hold 10,000 tokens can get the premium membership service of Ime version for free
Advanced AI feature selection in development
Cryptobox application (similar to the multi-chain version and airdrop of WeChat group red envelopes)
DAO Voting
Other features such as advertising and game services
CMC linkïŒhttps://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ime-lab/
Token security audit agency: Certik
3. Team Analysis:
The personnel structure of the iMe project team is similar to that of the Telegram team, and many of them are top engineering and technical talents from Russia and Ukraine. The total number of people in the Telegram team is not particularly large, so it also gives iMe a good space for expansion and complementarity. Russia's development technology enjoys a high reputation worldwide, providing strong technical support and product stability for these projects.
The team maintains a close relationship with the Telegram core team, including but not limited to the holding of some tokens, negotiation of equity and the possibility of cooperative research and development. Since some information is not publicly announced, it can be treated as a personal analysis here. Due to the high privacy of Telegram-type projects, there is not much public resume analysis about the founding team. From personal contact and understanding alone, the team has strong technology and products, and the market wants to do well, but it needs a little more help from a reliable PR agency to let more people know about the situation.
4. Future long-term value analysis:
For the long-term value analysis of iMe lime, we can first explore it from the following perspectives:
1. Relationship between iMe and Telegram:
From the above description and research experience, iMe and Telegram are more like a deeply bound product relationship, because the core of iMe is Telegram itself, but on this basis, it adds the armor and wings of Web3 for easy use, making the entire TG software architecture look more complete. It is more like the web3 multi-chain version of WeChat with payment functions. Using the iMe version of TG is equivalent to letting users use a more powerful Telegram, and the complete account interoperability and synchronization of cloud storage also makes it easy for users to learn how to use it.
Therefore, the long-term valuation of iMe will benefit from the growth of Telegram's valuation as a software entity. Currently, Telegram's valuation as a social software was 30 billion US dollars before it went public, but as its popularity continues to rise, its valuation may increase further. As a conservative valuation method, I tend to use only about 10% of iMe's entity valuation. (5% of existing customers + 100% of customers who can be used at any time + additional functional expansion)
2. Relationship and model differences between iMe and TON:
This is also a point that many people did not understand before. The relationship between iMe and TON is similar to that between Telegram and TON. TON itself is a public chain developed based on the TG underlying layer, so the valuation model of TON can also be valued in the traditional way of public chain valuation and mini-program APP Center. Whether in the original version of Telegram or in the iMe version, TON and related project mini-programs are used normally.
However, unlike the original TG, iMe's integrated system also adds support for the TON chain in the main interface, making the operation feel more like WeChat or daily wallets (such as I'm token, TP, etc.). The chat box embedded wallet of the basic TG can still be used normally, but because the embedded chat box wallet is easily confused with daily conversations such as group chats, I prefer this development model of adding functions to the UI. Due to its additional supplementary and independent functional development to traditional TG, the additional development space for subsequent TON and iMe has also been further improved.
3. Summary of comprehensive future value analysis
From the above content, it can be seen that the long-term value of iMe is mainly related to product development, TG ontology trend, optimization and additional development of ontology, and its own blockchain web3 token application, which has formed a comprehensive, multi-faceted and three-dimensional binding. For its valuation model, it can also be combined with traditional software valuation + public chain L2 valuation + Defi valuation model such as Payment + AI + Wallet and other additional types of valuation collection
Comprehensively considering various models, 3-5B FDV may not be an exaggerated long-term valuation in the future. The model of conservatively obtaining 10% of the current TG valuation can already reach 3B FDV. However, it also needs to further demonstrate its value and be applied. If TG further expands, whether the peak of the bull market can reach a valuation of 10B or more depends on many comprehensive factors such as the subsequent market, AI functions, payment applications, and whether TG is further strongly bought.
Therefore, I personally think that the total valuation of this project of 37.5M is still undervalued. The reason why the project is seriously undervalued may be the inadaptability and unfamiliarity at the previous marketing level. Due to the excessive emphasis on social media and the community, and the lack of media, there are not many reports on the market that deeply interpret this project, so this also leaves room for underestimation. However, in the past 3 years, it has also experienced a long bear market, and it can still keep up with the times in continuous updating and development. This is the quality that a good product and project team should have. The buried value will also be gradually discovered by institutions that are good at making waves, and it will be put on the right track step by step. However, the failure of Telegram API and the possibility of extreme black swans in the financial field are also places where readers need to make extreme judgments, including the anonymity of the entire Telegram ecological series team, which is not easy to do due diligence, so it is also a test of the researcher's ability to make objective and calm judgments to select high-quality projects.
V. Conclusion:
This article explains the uniqueness, features, multi-chain configuration and potential of Telegram's Web3 special version of iMe Messenger and its optimization and value expansion for the Telegram ecosystem. It also explains its token economy and the reasons why it is underestimated. As a representative social and instant messaging ecosystem that represents privacy and openness, Telegram fully demonstrates its potential and value in the Web3 field.
For users who are familiar with WeChat Pay, WeChat's pillar functions: payment, community applications, various entry functions, and mini-program expansion. It happens to be more similar to the product logic of the iMe version of Telegram. iMe has focused on the development of Telegram's payment and friend transfer, group applications, additional exchange operations, Ai, etc. From another perspective, calm analysis, Telegram may be beneficial to Web3 applications because of this model. However, due to the lack of explanation content, although there are many ecological users, the number of objective reviews is lacking, which is also one of the reasons for its undervaluation. And discovering the value of undervalued projects has become an interesting and meaningful thing.
Investment is risky. Even if it is as stable as gold, it will experience a sharp decline in extreme cases. We should always be in awe of the market and the ever-changing economy. I also hope that everyone can discover more high-quality undervalued projects.
