A decentralized layer-1 blockchain designed by Telegram, the TON Foundation, has added a new crypto payments feature to the messaging app. Through this new feature, users can send Toncoin to other Telegram users. There are no transaction fees.
The TON Foundation said that with this service, users no longer need to enter long wallet addresses and wait for confirmations. It is quite similar to the Bitcoin payments function that Twitter has been offering through its Tip Jar feature since September 2021. But the microblogging platform uses the Stripe platform for such payments. The TON Foundation anticipates the new functionality will extend into the consumer to business. It wants people to easily buy goods and services by sending toncoin via bots in the Telegram app.
However, the US Securities Exchange and Commission (SEC) had blocked Telegram’s $1.7 billion token issuances for an initial coin offering (ICO). The regulator had alleged that Telegram sold the digital tokens unlawfully. Stephanie Avakian, the co-director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, had said the emergency action was intended to prevent Telegram from flooding the US markets with digital tokens. The SEC highlighted that the defendants failed to provide investors with information regarding Grams and Telegram’s business operations, risk factors, financial condition, and management that the securities laws require.
Pavel Durov, Telegram’s CEO, had announced in May 2020 that they would be abandoning their blockchain project.
