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Telegram now accepts cryptocurrency payments

Telegram, the encrypted messaging app, now accepts crypto payments after previously rejecting its own token.

The addition, according to Protocol, could make crypto payments on messaging platforms more mainstream.

The TON Foundation, which manages the toncoin token, has enabled fee-free payments in the app, as well as sending crypto to other users using toncoin (TON). It has also added the ability to purchase bitcoin from within the app.

Telegram, which has approximately 550 million users, previously abandoned its plan for its own token in response to a legal challenge from the Australian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC filed a lawsuit against Telegram in 2019 after it raised $1.7 billion to develop its token, accusing it of conducting an illegal token offering.

Telegram later agreed to pay a fine to the SEC and return capital to investors.

Since then, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has endorsed Toncoin, a separate spin-off token that appears to be independent of Telegram. According to the report, this is the coin that can now be used to make payments on Telegram.

The TON Foundation announced on Twitter that it has enabled the ability to send Toncoin “without transaction fees to any Telegram user.”

About the author

Brendan Taylor

Brendan Taylor was a TV news producer for 5 and a half years. He is an experienced writer. Brendan covers Breaking News at Insider Paper.







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