Gaming bot utilizes play-to-airdrop model to turn Telegram into a playground

Web3 needs Web2 users to sustain its growth, and Telegram offers a gateway for onboarding more people from the traditional web into a decentralized world.

Catizen is a Telegram-based gaming bot that works on The Open Network. Using the play-to-airdrop model, the gaming hub is set to contribute to the mass adoption of Web3.

While Web3 continues to expand through innovation and integrations, it also needs new users to sustain its growth. This is why onboarding more users from Web2 is the top item on most Web3 projects’ agendas.

Telegram stands as an ideal middle ground between the two digital spaces. With its massive global user base closing in on 1 billion people, the communication platform offers a glimpse into the blockchain ecosystem thanks to its integration with The Open Network (TON) and overall support of the Web3 space.

Apps and platforms are quick to utilize Telegram’s established presence in both worlds to bring more people from Web2 to Web3, and one project has already saw significant traction in doing so.

Telegram becomes a playground

Catizen, a Telegram-based gaming bot integrated into the TON blockchain, aims to introduce Web3 to a broader demographic by utilizing mini games and practical mobile payments. The game uses Telegram’s traffic to establish a presence in the Web3 space that can potentially attract the communication platform’s broader social ecosystem.

The game uses the play-to-airdrop model, where playing each game through the Catizen platform leads to airdrops for players. The developer team has spent extra time on fine-tuning the user experience to ensure an engaging and intuitive interaction through easy-to-use interfaces.

The game world is set in an open digital Meowverse, a pun on its cat-focused theme. Each player gets a digital cat that doubles as their credentials to access the Launchpool in Catizen. As players progress through the game, they can upgrade their cats by merging them to climb the leaderboard and potentially higher returns.

Players can spend FishCoins, the game’s digital currency, to fish and gain additional rewards. FishCoin can be earned by inviting new players to Catizen and completing in-game tasks. Once a cat hits a certain level, they can be staked as personal assets in the game’s Launchpool for returns. The last Launchpool is open to every user with at least 1,000 FishCoins or a level 110 cat, although these requirements may vary for different Launchpools.

Fast-growing Web3 ecosystem

After launching its public beta version in March 2024, Catizen has established a community surpassing 11 million players globally. The Telegram-based game has over 1.7 million daily active users and around 750,000 on-chain players.

Currently, Telegram’s crypto conversion rate is only 0.66%, whereas Catizen boasts a higher on-chain participation rate of 7% among its total users. The conversion rate refers to the percentage of total users who transition from regular usage to engaging in crypto transactions or activities on the platform.

Catizen has the potential to become a significant Web3 traffic gateway through its gaming platform, where users act as decentralized distribution channels, thereby supporting applications across the entire ecosystem.

Catizen’s rapid growth is evident in TON blockchain’s official The Open League season rankings, where it won the reward for both seasons in the app battle, competing for a $500,000 prize pool.

The Open League is designed to ensure fair competition within the TON x Telegram ecosystem. While many Telegram-based bot projects show high community growth but low genuine activity due to automated users, Catizen stands out as an exception with its base of high-quality on-chain users, making it challenging for other projects to match its performance.

Since its release, Catizen has seen about $10 million worth of in-game asset purchases distributed across various crypto tokens, including Toncoin (TON), Notcoin (NOT), Mantle (MNT) and Tether (USDT).

Without losing the momentum generated by the public beta launch, Catizen has a busy schedule ahead of its team. Starting with the third quarter, Catizen will see the launch of its own token, along with the establishment of a game center. The team has plans to release multiple mini-games along the way.

Catizen envisions becoming a mini-app center by combining its Launchpool with short videos and e-commerce. The project has already signed agreements for 18 mini-games with over 50 million downloads, including the online action game Hero Wars, which boasts more than 100 million downloads. The team behind the game has a game plan for attracting and engaging users through gamification and play-to-airdrop initiatives.

Educating digital users of Web2 is a crucial step to expanding the Web3 user base, and leveraging high-traffic ecosystems —such as Telegram— to reach the masses offers a good start. Projects bringing multiple aspects of digital interaction, including gameplay, e-commerce and social networking, could demonstrate how Web3 empowers individuals by giving control of their assets and interactions back to them.

For those interested in exploring the TON x Telegram ecosystem, Citizen offers a compelling entry point. With its engaging gameplay and substantial on-chain user activity, it exemplifies a unique experience within the Web3 playground.