Telegram launches ‘Stars’, an in-app currency for digital purchases

Social messaging platform Telegram “Telegram Stars” is a new in-app token that can be used to purchase digital goods and services on the platform.

“With Telegram Stars, mini-apps can accept payments for digital services using the easiest payment method – in-app purchases on Android and iOS,” company CEO Pavel Durov said in a June 6 Telegram post.

Developers can exchange their stars for Toncoin (Ton) – Telegram's cryptocurrency that powers Telegram's “The Open Network” – on Fragment, the platform most used to buy and sell Telegram usernames.

“They can also use stars to further promote their apps on Telegram,” added Durov.

Durov says Telegram subsidizes ads bought by Star on Apple and Google, which take a 30% commission on digital product sales.

Durov believes this will create an economic incentive for developers to build digital products on Telegram:

“If developers reinvest the stars to promote their apps, the total commission will be close to 0%. As a result, launching apps with Telegram is more economical than launching traditional mobile apps.”

“Future updates will bring more features and functionality to Star — gifts for content creators and more,” Telegram said in a June 6 post.

Telegram has seen huge success with NotCoin, one of the platform's most popular apps, amassing 35 million users in its first five months of launch.

NotCoin is a “tap-to-earn” token where users earn tokens by completing various social challenges.

More than 400 million of Telegram's 900 million users interact with Telegram bots and mini apps every month.

Related: TON Blockchain Launches $115M Community Incentive Program

Telegram Tether (USDT) was launched in April as part of a partnership with the stablecoin provider to drive greater adoption of the cryptocurrency through its messaging platform on the TON blockchain.

“[Users] There is no longer any need to jump through the hurdles of acquiring another type of crypto or token, Justin Yun, director of investments at the Tone Foundation, told Cointelegraph at the time.

36 hours ago, Ton set a new all-time high of $7.65, but has since fallen to $7.50, according to CoinGecko. However, the $18.2 billion market cap is still a $7 billion drop from the $25.2 billion peak set on April 12.

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