Telegram Mini Apps are ‘Trojan horse’ for mass blockchain adoption — TON investments director

Onboarding the next 500 million users will require simple apps with “actual usability,” Justin Hyun told Cointelegraph.

The blockchain-based mini-decentralized applications (DApps) on Telegram, also known as Mini Apps, could be a “Trojan horse” for mass blockchain adoption.

That’s according to Justin Hyun, the director of investments at TON Foundation, who told Cointelegraph:

“That’s our thesis for bringing in more users onto the blockchain without even needing to educate them about the blockchain. It’s a Trojan horse way to say: look, you’re letting in all these user-friendly DApps, and we won’t even necessarily call them DApps […] It’s just Telegram Mini Apps that they’re using whether that’s inside their channels.”

Telegram Mini Apps launched in 2020 as an open platform allowing Web3 businesses to deploy crypto-friendly apps directly within the Telegram messaging app.

They were launched in partnership with The Open Network (TON) Foundation and Tencent with the intention of creating a super-app platform.

Bringing the next 500 million users on-chain will require simple initial use cases where users aren’t necessarily aware of the underlying blockchain interaction. Hyun says:

“We believe mass adoption really comes in the form of simple use cases in the beginning, and then there will be drop-offs of more sophisticated users going into different types of use cases. But bringing 500 million people on-chain by 2028 — which is our goal — is going to require use cases that interact with the blockchain without the user knowing that in the front end.”

Some Telegram Mini Apps will also offer Web3-specific financial incentives for users, Hyun explained.

Related: Dencun is a big step towards mass adoption: Metis CEO

Telegram is the world’s third-largest messenger app by monthly downloads, according to Statista. It has over 800 million monthly active users worldwide.

Telegram announced the launch of its advertising platform on Feb. 28. The platform will use the TON blockchain for payments.

Starting this month, Telegram channel owners in over 100 countries can start receiving financial rewards for their work after the ad platform opens for all advertisers.

Channel owners will start receiving 50% of the total advertising revenue generated by Telegram from displaying ads in their channels.

TON launched a $115 million community incentive program on March 20, with $38 million for token mining and user incentives, $22 million for airdrops, $15 million for The League developer ecosystem, and $40 million for liquidity pool boosts.

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