USDT Transfers Through Telegram Chats Now Possible
Telegram users can now send USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin by market cap, within chats in the messaging app. The addition of USDT to the @wallet bot on Telegram expands the messaging app’s facility for buying and selling crypto, according to an emailed announcement shared with CoinDesk on Wednesday.
.@telegram users can now send each other USDT within chats in the messaging app. By @JamieCrawleyCD.https://t.co/G6Vzqj35mc
— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) March 22, 2023
USDT Integration
Integrating crypto payments into messaging apps like Telegram is a positive development for mainstream adoption, as it can make sending cryptocurrency as easy as sending a text or a photograph. This move follows the addition of bitcoin (BTC) and toncoin (TON) to @wallet’s marketplace last April, with the latter also available to send within chats.
Stablecoins like USDT offer many of the benefits of other cryptocurrencies, but without the price volatility that often besets the likes of bitcoin and ether. Therefore, they are a vital component for users who wish to keep their money in the crypto ecosystem but without risking it being on the receiving end of any sharp swings in value.
The addition of USDT could prove an important development for Telegram’s crypto service, as the messaging app’s cryptocurrency journey goes back some years to its development of the Open Network (TON) blockchain project. However, this development was abandoned in 2020 owing to legal battles with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Keeping Telegram’s Crypto Ambitions Alive
Despite not being directly involved in TON, Telegram maintains an interest in the network, exemplified by building its blockchain-based auction platform Fragment atop it late last year. TON was kept alive by members of its community, calling themselves The TON Foundation, who have continued to advance the project.
Telegram’s move to allow USDT transfers within chats is a step towards making cryptocurrency more accessible to the general public. With Telegram’s vast user base, this move could potentially bring stablecoins to the forefront of the crypto industry, making them a go-to option for many people who want to invest in the crypto market without taking on the risk of volatile prices.
