Telegram Moves Toward Built-In Crypto Payments With TON Pay Launch

TheNewsCryptoPublished on 2026-02-09Last updated on 2026-02-09

Abstract

TON Foundation has launched TON Pay, a new payments SDK designed to integrate crypto payments into Telegram’s ecosystem. The wallet-agnostic system enables merchants and Mini App developers to accept Toncoin and Tether’s USDt, aiming to reduce friction in wallet management, settlement, and checkout flows. It targets sub-second transaction times with fees under one cent on average, potentially reaching Telegram’s 1.1 billion monthly users. The system aims to mainstream crypto payments within chats by simplifying adoption. Future updates may include subscriptions and gasless transactions. TON Pay enters a competitive landscape alongside platforms like X and Coinbase’s Base, leveraging Telegram’s vast user base and ease of integration. The open, permissionless network operates under Telegram’s platform policies, with plans to expand beyond Mini Apps and support broader Web3 strategies.

TON Foundation has rolled out TON Pay, a new payments SDK designed to incorporate crypto payments into the Telegram ecosystem. TON Pay’s aim is to turn Telegram into a crypto payment system for Toncoin and other cryptocurrencies. TON Pay is a wallet-agnostic payment system for merchants and Mini App developers. It enables developers to accept Toncoin and Tether’s USDt currencies within Telegram’s Mini Apps.

TON Pay aims to cut down on friction involving wallet management, settlement, and checkout flows. Per the TON Foundation, this SDK makes integration with Telegram Mini Apps simple for everyday commerce. The system aims for sub-second transaction times and fees below one cent on average. TON Pay intends to cover more than 1.1 billion monthly active users on Telegram. The widespread user base of Telegram might enable crypto payments to become mainstream inside chats. To be sure, the project seeks to reduce the barrier to adoption by placing checkout functions directly into the messaging app.

Friction points related to the frequent user, complicated checkouts, and gas fees could be reduced. TON Pay is designed to feel native within Telegram and will support optional merchant tools such as analytics and advanced wallets that are currently in development. For now, TON Pay operates within Telegram Mini Apps, with broader expansion planned. Future updates will probably add support for subscriptions and gasless transactions.

TON Pay Enters Competitive Integrated Payments Landscape

TON Pay’s launch comes at a time when several major platforms are seeking to incorporate crypto payments. Elon Musk’s X has announced a plan for its X Money financial services. Coinbase’s Base is a new app combining social elements with payments and trading. Telegram’s ecosystem also has the ability to incorporate TON Pay to compete with other “everything apps.” TON Pay’s main advantage for merchants will be the ease of development for the ecosystem. There are also concerns by some people about the skepticism surrounding TON, given their previous connections with Telegram.

The TON Foundation argues that, by definition, this network is open and permissionless. Merchants who use the TON Pay system must abide by Telegram’s platform policies. The merchant rules will likely change as the SDK develops. TON Pay’s malleable structure could potentially facilitate compatibility between crypto and fiat payments. Renowned analysts have great expectations that integrated checkouts can potentially accelerate on-chain spend. The proposed rollout strategies include web development beyond Telegram Mini Apps. The rollout of TON Pay can be related to Telegram’s strategy for Web3. It is a wallet-agnostic system aiming to simplify various crypto transactions. TON Pay has originated from Telegram’s potential for developing into a digital payments system.

Highlighted Crypto News:

Vitalik Buterin Says ETH-Backed Algorithmic Stablecoins Qualify as ‘True DeFi’

Unlocking $100 Million in Liquidity? Pump.fun's New Policy Tests the 5-Minute Pump Technique

Pump.fun, a popular meme coin launchpad, has introduced a new standard mechanism called BOOST. It aims to address a significant capital efficiency issue: when a newly launched token graduates from its initial bonding curve to a liquidity pool (LP), roughly 20% of its liquidity becomes permanently locked as "dead liquidity," estimated to waste over $100 million annually. Instead of locking these funds permanently, BOOST repurposes them. Upon a token's migration, approximately 20% of the settlement funds (e.g., 17.6 SOL or ~$2516 USDC) are used to buy back the token on the open market over a 5-minute period via a Time-Weighted Average Price (TWAP) mechanism. All purchased tokens are immediately burned. This creates a brief, systematic buy pressure immediately after migration, potentially generating a short-term price surge ("pump") while permanently reducing the token's circulating supply. The goal is to enhance the immediate post-launch trading experience, potentially increasing trader retention and sustainable protocol revenue, which funds ongoing token buybacks. However, concerns exist that this artificial 5-minute boost could lower the barrier for launching low-quality tokens and lead to steeper price crashes once the buy pressure stops, if followed by large sell-offs. The feature automatically applies to tokens migrating after July 21, 2024, but not to previously migrated tokens or those launched via the Mayhem AI Agent lab.

marsbit7m ago

Unlocking $100 Million in Liquidity? Pump.fun's New Policy Tests the 5-Minute Pump Technique

marsbit7m ago

Selling Block Space is Dead: Public Chains Must Find a New Way

"Blockchain infrastructure as a neutral, generalized platform is no longer a viable business model. This article argues that simply selling block space has failed, evidenced by the fact that only one public blockchain, Hyperliquid, was among 14 crypto firms surpassing $200M in annual revenue recently. Hyperliquid's revenue vastly outpaces others like Arbitrum, highlighting a crisis. The future lies in public chains pivoting away from neutrality to become product studios, application distributors, payment rails, or vertical SaaS providers, directly serving paying customers. The piece also covers key industry events: a major exploit on Ostium, attributed to vulnerabilities in its off-chain price oracle, underscores the critical security needs for protocols bridging off-chain markets. Additionally, it discusses the necessity of abstracting complex financial instruments like options. Experts argue that to achieve mass adoption, options should be packaged as user-friendly products—such as yield vaults, binary options, or structured products—rather than marketed with their technical complexity. Finally, the radar section notes developments including Yearn's fixed-rate lending product Flex, community backlash over Base's strategy changes, the launch of a DXY perpetuals DEX called Plether, and Starknet's focus on institutional-grade privacy and quantum resistance."

marsbit28m ago

Selling Block Space is Dead: Public Chains Must Find a New Way

marsbit28m ago

Podcast Notes | Conversation with GSR Asset Management Head: To Determine if This Crypto Rally is Real, Just Watch the Lending Rates on Aave

Podcast Summary: Dialogue with GSR's Head of Asset Management: To Determine if This Crypto Rally is Real, Just Check Lending Rates on Aave Andy Baehr, Managing Director of Asset Management at GSR, discusses the current crypto market, characterizing it as stuck in a state of "ambivalence" with short-lived, unsustainable rallies. He outlines a simple framework: the market moves between "ambivalence" and "conviction" (sustained upward momentum). Currently, every rally resembles a single-stage rocket booster that quickly fizzles out. Baehr identifies three key signals to watch: 1) DeFi lending rates, 2) the potential passage of the CLARITY Act, and 3) the market forming a consensus on the "Fed hawkish peak." He emphasizes that the most immediate indicator for the sustainability of the recent CPI-triggered rally is the USDC borrowing rate on Aave, currently around 3.75%—close to U.S. Treasury yields. The absence of a credit spread indicates low leverage demand and a lack of market energy. He explains that a healthy, sustained rally requires layered buying pressure. Last year's rally progressed from an ETH short squeeze to crypto-native trader influx and finally to ETF inflows. Currently, this structure is missing. Other potential structural buyers like Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies are absent, and ETF flows have proven transient. Baehr notes that while small-cap crypto tokens outperformed large caps in Q2—a potential sign of capitation in major assets—capital is also flowing to more exciting opportunities like AI stocks and tech IPOs, leaving crypto sidelined. Regarding DeFi, he highlights that platforms like Aave provide a clear, real-time signal of leverage demand through their supply/demand-driven interest rates. A significant, sustained rate increase would signal genuine market conviction. He also observes the quiet emergence of fixed-income-like products and vaults in DeFi. On regulation, the probability of the CLARITY Act passing before the August 7th deadline has dropped linearly from 75% to below 40% on Polymarket. Baehr suggests its passage would be treated as a bullish surprise, a potent driver for price movement. However, political hurdles, including ethical clause debates and disclosures about the First Family's crypto profits, remain significant obstacles. Ultimately, the market awaits clarity on the Fed's terminal rate under Chair Warsh. Until the "Fed Solstice"—the point where the market collectively understands the peak of hawkish policy—sustained conviction will be difficult to achieve.

marsbit38m ago

Podcast Notes | Conversation with GSR Asset Management Head: To Determine if This Crypto Rally is Real, Just Watch the Lending Rates on Aave

marsbit38m ago

Send a Message to Transfer Coins? Telegram to 'Stuff' a Crypto Wallet into 1 Billion Users This Summer

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has announced that a native, non-custodial wallet called Gram wallet will be built into every Telegram app this summer. This move aims to provide instant, fee-free cryptocurrency transfers for the platform's over 1 billion monthly active users. Durov described it as the largest deployment of a non-custodial crypto wallet in history. The new wallet, developed by Telegram itself, differs fundamentally from the existing third-party @wallet bot. It will be non-custodial from the start, meaning users will control their private keys. Following the announcement, the GRAM token (formerly Toncoin) saw a price increase of approximately 8%. This initiative is part of Telegram's renewed control over the TON blockchain and its "Make TON Great Again" roadmap, marking a return to the project after a 2018 SEC lawsuit. The launch comes as other super-apps like X Money and Meta are also expanding into digital payments, with Telegram opting for a crypto-native approach. However, key details remain unclear, including the exact launch date beyond "this summer," how the promised zero fees will be implemented technically, and how asset support and private key management will work for mainstream users.

marsbit1h ago

Send a Message to Transfer Coins? Telegram to 'Stuff' a Crypto Wallet into 1 Billion Users This Summer

marsbit1h ago

Hyperliquid’s HIP-4 proposal fuels HYPE staking as long-term conviction grows

Hyperliquid has proposed the HIP-4 upgrade to expand from perpetual futures into a broader, permissionless infrastructure layer for on-chain applications, requiring deployers to stake 500,000 HYPE to launch new markets. This shift aims to enable developers to build on its platform, a strategy backed by growing long-term investor conviction. Evidence includes a major trader staking millions in HYPE instead of taking profits, with total staked tokens reaching 43.9% of the supply, reducing available tokens and strengthening network security. Market metrics like high open interest and balanced funding rates suggest measured, non-speculative trader positioning. Sustained growth in protocol revenue, TVL, and governance participation further supports the positive outlook, contingent on continued user adoption and successful upgrade execution.

ambcrypto1h ago

Hyperliquid’s HIP-4 proposal fuels HYPE staking as long-term conviction grows