Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced that Catizen, a cryptocurrency game that lets you earn money by tapping through the messaging app, has “earned” $16 million from in-app purchases.
“Catizen is a mini-game on Telegram with over 26 million players. The game has already earned $16 million from in-app purchases, donating 1% of it to stray cat rescue,” Durov posted Tuesday.
Durov said on Monday that Telegram now has about 950 million users worldwide.
Pluto Studio is the publisher of Catizen, a Telegram game built on The Open Network (or TON) blockchain, along with other similar titles accessible via the Telegram app (e.g. Hamster Kombat). The company was backed by Binance Labs, The Block reported earlier Tuesday.
“Catizen has introduced blockchain to millions of people because they use TON-based smart contracts for in-game rewards,” Durov said. “Their team has also built tools that make it easy for other developers to launch games on Telegram and TON.”
Ricky Wong, co-founder of Pluto Studios, told The Block this week that the average revenue per paying user has increased to $30.7.
Simple tap-to-earn games like Notcoin, Yescoin, Hamster Kombat, and Catizen have attracted tens of millions of users in recent months. Both Catizen and Hamster Kombat are expected to launch tokens soon.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet providing news, research and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is the largest investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is an anchor LP of Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to provide objective, impactful and timely information on the cryptocurrency industry. Below are the current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All rights reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not provided or intended to be legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.
About the Author
RT Watson is a senior reporter at The Block, covering a wide range of topics including corporate America, blockchain gaming, and NFTs. Previously, he covered entertainment at The Wall Street Journal, writing about Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros., and the creator economy, with a focus on technological disruption across media. Prior to that, he covered corporate, economic, and political news in Brazil at Bloomberg. RT has interviewed a wide range of people, including CEOs, media moguls, major influencers, politicians, blue-collar workers, drug dealers, and convicted criminals. He holds a Master’s degree in Digital Sociology.