Telegram Is Crypto’s Adoption Machine

Telegram is onboarding the masses and ushering in a new era for public blockchains, says David Zimmerman, a research analyst at K33 Research.

Telegram is playing a pivotal role in driving crypto adoption on a massive scale, thanks to its integration with The Open Network (TON) blockchain, according to David Zimmerman, a research analyst at K33 Research.

In his view, Telegram and a handful of independent developers have made more progress in onboarding the masses to crypto than the $100 billion in venture capital that has poured into the space since 2014.

“I argue that Telegram and a handful of independent developers have made more progress in onboarding the masses to crypto than the $100 billion in venture capital that has flooded the space since 2014,” Zimmerman wrote in a CoinDesk guest post.

While crypto enthusiasts have long anticipated a “killer app” that will introduce the rest of the world to digital assets, the analyst suggests that Telegram may already be fulfilling this role.

“Listen to any crypto podcast or convention panel, and you will hear crypto natives speak of a killer app yet to come that will onboard the rest of the world. But what if it is already here?” he wrote.

According to Zimmerman, Telegram is tackling three key issues that have hindered crypto adoption: poor user experience (UX), limited real-world utility, and terrible distribution.

“Through its support for and integration of TON, Telegram is addressing all of these issues and more,” he stated.

In the early days of crypto, the focus was on niche tech development that primarily served speculators and lacked real-world utility, the analyst noted. However, with the arrival of spot ETFs and firms like BlackRock opening up funds focused on asset tokenization, the time for crypto to evolve has come.

“Telegram combined its messaging app boasting 800 million monthly active users, a blockchain providing rails for crypto adoption in TON, and a native wallet bot known simply as Wallet,” Zimmerman wrote.

“Many crypto pitch decks vaguely romanticize the notion of ‘merging Web2 and Web3,’ Telegram is actually doing it.”

In his view, stablecoins are crypto’s greatest product to date, and with native USDT on TON since April, the seamless transfer of value P2P became a reality.

“Users can send crypto to their friends as easily as sending a message on WhatsApp. This is a smoother UX than neobanks like Venmo or Revolut, and lightyears ahead of traditional banks,” the analyst stated.

However, the opportunity for onboarding 100s of millions to crypto likely comes through Telegram’s Mini Apps — an open platform for businesses to build and deploy crypto-friendly apps, according to Zimmerman.

“This will enable crypto teams to distribute their product to non-crypto-natives while the end user will not necessarily know they are using a crypto product — whether that is a fun mobile game or a DeFi protocol,” he wrote.

Telegram solidified its place in crypto long ago, the analyst noted. It is a popular platform among crypto natives used to keep in touch or share ideas, and it is usually the first social media channel new crypto projects set up along with their X account.

“Recently, it became more than that for on-chain traders,” Zimmerman stated.

A new generation of Telegram trading bots changed crypto UX forever, and perhaps changed on-chain trading forever, he added.

“Buying/selling, setting limit orders, scanning new projects, sniping new launches, and copy trading ‘smart money,’ all became simple with a single command,” the analyst wrote.

“Having a Telegram bot comprehensively freeing me from the most frustrating UX issues of on-chain trading was a breath of fresh air. It was one of the very rare times a crypto product made me say ‘wow, this is great.’”

It did, however, make altcoin trading much more competitive and spurred on what I consider the “proliferation of altcoins,” according to Zimmerman.

“Does this mean altcoin trading/investing is dead? Far from it,” he wrote.

“The ease with which newcomers can now interact with smart contracts compared with what I had to do starting out is night-and-day. This, combined with distribution and increasingly useful apps means a new wave of capital flowing into crypto over the coming years.”

The improvement in UX here cannot be overstated, the analyst added. I say this because I have myself onboarded non-crypto friends through TON's Wallet.

“Prior to Telegram’s current infrastructure, I would let out a small sigh at the prospect of trying to teach a friend how to use crypto. Now, thanks to Telegram, I do not see how it could be easier,” Zimmerman wrote.

So that’s it, Telegram and TON have won, right? Not quite, he added. The improvement in UX and distribution is a big leap forward, but we have yet to see a comprehensive range of consumer-facing apps.

“Mini apps are being developed and there is a major incentive for game devs to build a fun Telegram game that captures the