Developers behind the Telegram @Wallet Bot have launched a P2P cryptocurrency exchange. The app allows Telegram users to purchase cryptocurrencies with a bank card, exchange, and transfer to other wallets.
The Wallet Bot was launched in April and it allows Telegram users to buy toncoin (TON) and send it within chat messages.
How the Telegram @Wallet Works
The latest update will allow sales of cryptocurrencies between users through the Telegram app, with the exchange services acting as guarantors for each transaction. In any case of disagreement between the seller and the buyer, the service will conduct a dispute resolution process.
The service is pitched as offering “anonymous P2P deals,” however, users must share their mobile phone number with the bot to deposit, exchange or purchase crypto.
Users who wish to sell cryptocurrencies will be paying a 0.9% commission, while buyers will not need to pay any fees, according to a statement by developers of the @Wallet bot.
To sell tokens, users will post notices in the app, which buyers can then select from. Buyers can use USD, EUR, UAH, BYN, and KZT to purchase cryptocurrencies.
Crypto Assets Available to Use
Toncoin (TON) and bitcoin (BTC) are available for purchase at the moment, with plans to increase the offering at a later date, according to the company. Only TON can be sent between users directly through chats.
“It is aimed towards ordinary users and provides a low entry threshold for learning about blockchain. Many services on TON are similar to the usual applications that people are already used to using,” a TON Foundation representative told Blockworks.
“Without leaving Telegram you can buy cryptocurrency, send it to your friends using a short nickname without long wallet addresses, get access to the internet with the @mobile bot, pay for a subscription to your favorite Telegram channel along with many other services,” the representative said.
The TON Foundation “is a decentralized community started by Anatoliy Makosov and Kirill Emelyanenko after Telegram stepped away from the project,” according to its website.
The total number of custodial wallet accounts has grown to 1.3 million according to a stat page provided by the group, however, the Ton Scan block explorer was not displaying any information as of press time.
The TON community Telegram group has 630,000 subscribers.
The TON token is trading at $1.39 as of 9:00 am ET, with a market capitalization of about $1.7 billion and a circulating supply of 1.22 billion TON, according to CoinMarketCap.