- The new wallet will be called TON Space
- Users based in the US will not be eligible for it
Telegram, the popular chat app with almost a billion active monthly users, announced the launch of a self-custodial crypto wallet, TechCrunch reported.
The initiative is aimed at solidifying Telegram’s role in the buoyant crypto community, which its messaging app has given rise to. It has the potential to take crypto mainstream, according to the platform.
TON Space revealed at Singapore’s Token2049
The new wallet will be called TON Space. It was announced jointly by Telegram and the TON (Telegram Open Network) Foundation today, on September 13, at the Token2049 crypto conference in Singapore. The conference was attended by more than 10,000 people.
Users of Telegram all over the world will be able to start using TON Space in November. They will not have to register any wallet.
US excluded from feature
Users based in the US and a few other jurisdictions will not be eligible for the feature for now. US regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in particular, have been cracking down on the crypto industry and deterring market players from being as active as they would otherwise be. Their measures have brought many crypto apps to geofence consumers from the market.
A complicated relationship with crypto
Telegram’s relationship with crypto and blockchain has been long and complicated. The app gave up on the TON project in 2020 after the SEC sued them over the initial coin offering.
Thereafter, a group of blockchain fans and open-source developers set up Telegram Open Network Foundation, which currently supports the development of TON. TON powers an increasing number of applications on Telegram, including the wallet.
In July, Bankless Times reported that merchants on Telegram could start accepting payment in cryptocurrency. The app’s payment service providerWalletPay already allowed crypto transfers between chat users at the time. WalletPay runs on the TON blockchain as well.
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