Social messaging platform Telegram has launched ‘Telegram Stars’, a new in-app token that can be used to purchase digital goods and services on the platform.
“With Telegram Stars, mini apps can now accept payments for digital services using the simplest payment method possible: in-app purchases on Android and iOS,” Pavel Durov, the company’s CEO, said in a June 6 Telegram post. “He said.
Developers can exchange their stars for Toncoin (TON), the native cryptocurrency that powers Telegram’s “The Open Network,” through Fragment, a platform primarily used to buy and sell Telegram usernames.
“You can also use Stars to further promote your app on Telegram,” Durov added.
Durov said Telegram would subsidize advertising purchased through Stars from Apple and Google, which takes a 30% commission on digital product sales.
Durov believes this will economically incentivize developers to build digital products on Telegram.
“If developers reinvest their stars in promoting their apps, their overall commission would be almost 0%. As a result, launching an app on Telegram makes more economic sense than launching a traditional mobile app.”
“Future updates will bring additional features to stars, including gifts for content creators,” Telegram said in a June 6 post.
Telegram has seen significant success with Notcoin, one of the platform’s most popular apps, amassing 35 million users within the first five months of launch.
Notcoin is a “tap to earn” token where users earn NOT tokens by completing various social challenges.
Of the 900 million Telegram users, 400 million interact with Telegram bots and mini apps every month.
Related: TON Blockchain Launches $115 Million Community Incentive Program
Telegram launched Tether (USDT) on the TON blockchain in April as part of a partnership with stablecoin issuers to drive greater cryptocurrency adoption through the messaging platform.
“(Users) no longer have to jump through the barriers of acquiring different types of cryptocurrencies or tokens,” Justin Hyun, TON Foundation investment director, told Cointelegraph at the time.
About 36 hours ago, TON hit an all-time high of $7.65, but has since fallen to $7.50, according to CoinGecko. But its market cap, at $18.2 billion, is still $7 billion off its April 12 high of $25.2 billion.
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