Telegram has added a new feature that allows users to send each other the world’s largest stablecoin, tether (USDT).
Although USDT operates on several blockchains, Telegram has currently only added support for the stablecoin on Tron.
- On March 22, an update was released announcing the addition of USDT-TRON (TRC20) to the popular messaging app’s wallet function, substantially amplifying its payment capabilities for buying and selling crypto.
- USDT, alongside Bitcoin and The Open Network token, is now the third crypto-asset supported by the Wallet bot (TON).
- Telegram announced,
«You can buy, swap, and make P2P trades with Tether USDT (TRC20). You can also send USDT directly to your friends without transaction fees.»
- Telegram is now competing against other social media platforms like Twitter, which added support for tips in Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2021, besides partnering with Stripe to include payment features via the USDC stablecoin.
- Telegram’s connection with crypto goes back to 2018 when it released its Telegram Open Network (TON) – initially designed to be a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain platform – featuring a native token to facilitate payments on its chat app. However, the launch was not without hurdles.
- Its founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, had to battle numerous scammers and fake accounts on Twitter.
- Telegram eventually withdrew from the TON project, which was handed over to the TON Foundation only two years later, after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concluded that the underlying initial coin offering was illegal.
- Last November, DWF Labs committed to deploying $10 million to assist the TON ecosystem.
