User can buy and sell cryptocurrencies in the telegram bot @Wallet.
The world's largest stablecoin by market capitalization can be sent and received between telegram users in chats on the application.
USDT has been added to the @wallet bot on Telegram, expanding the messaging app’s ability to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, according to an emailed announcement shared with CoinDesk on Wednesday.
Telegram, the popular messaging application, has announced the addition of Tether’s stablecoin to its platform. This move will enable Telegram users to interact with the $78 billion market cap stablecoin, USDT-TRON, on the application.
Integrating crypto payments into messaging apps like Telegram — which would theoretically make sending cryptocurrency as easy as sending a text or photo — should be a very positive development for mainstream adoption.
Last April, bitcoin (BTC) and toncoin (TON) were added to @wallet's marketplace, the latter of which can also be sent in chat.
Stablecoins like USDT offer many of the same benefits as other cryptocurrencies, but without the price volatility that often plagues the likes of bitcoin and ether. As such, they are an important component for users who wish to keep their funds in the crypto ecosystem but do not want to risk any sharp fluctuations in value.
Therefore, the addition of USDT could prove an important development of Telegram's encrypted service.
The messaging app’s cryptocurrency journey dates back to the development of its Open Network (TON) blockchain project a few years ago. However, the development was abandoned in 2020 due to legal disputes with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
However, TON is kept alive by members of its community, calling itself the TON Foundation, who continue to advance the project.
Despite not being directly involved with TON, Telegram remains interested in the network, for example building a blockchain-based auction platform Fragment on top of it late last year.
Telegram has as many as 500 million active users, and this recently added feature could introduce many traditional users to the stablecoin cryptocurrency. Additionally, Telegram has been home to many web3-based projects and communities due to its early support for the industry while the company was still working on the problem.
