Telegram and TON Are Uniquely Positioned to Capture a Vast New Consumer Base for Web3 Projects

Recently, France and Vietnam have propelled Telegram straight to the headlines. Yet, no government intervention could stop it from hitting a billion-user landmark last March.

France and Vietnam may have intervened to stop the integration of crypto into Pavel Durov’s messaging app, but they couldn’t prevent it from hitting a billion-user landmark last March.

The world’s most used messaging app, Telegram is also a community hub for web3 aficionados and early blockchain adopters. Simple, reliable and offering not just promises but a readily available platform, Telegram presents a unique opportunity for the crypto industry to propel itself towards mass adoption. And we are talking about the largest untapped market for consumer-facing crypto applications.

It’s no longer a question of where crypto communities come together on Telegram, but rather how they build on the platform. But isn’t that what the industry has been trying to do for the past 15 years?

It may seem like it, but there’s a critical difference. Today’s efforts to expand the crypto industry are focused on attracting users from platforms like Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) or Binance to new and interesting projects within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. However, these users already possess some technical knowledge and are actively seeking out new coins, protocols or platforms. But to expand the industry drastically, a different approach is needed to introduce these technologies to a billion-user messaging app.

Telegram is more than a platform

Many use Telegram daily without ever thinking about end-to-end encryption, but the value proposition of Telegram over its competitors lies in its outstandingly simple UX and efficient messaging, which creates the ultimate headstart for MiniApps. Through TON (Token (CRYPTO:TRON, Chain (CRYPTO:TRON,) Network), Telegram is not just another platform for crypto expansion, but a fundamentally different adoption paradigm, where blockchain functionality is integrated into the existing user environment.

The rapidly expanding Telegram MiniApps and the scale of their adoption provide the ultimate headstart to the platform. However, to maximize this potential, we need to shift our perspective.

With the growing number of MiniApps and the rapid development of TON, we can flip the traditional adoption model from “pull” to “push,” requiring entirely new strategic approaches. Instead of waiting for users to discover and adopt DeFi apps, the ecosystem must proactively develop these tools and ship them directly to a ready and waiting user base.

Web3 will be user-friendly or forgotten

Most blockchain projects today are built for people already familiar with web3. They are built around the ethos of DeFi, but the approaches to onboarding new users and promoting widespread adoption have been an uphill battle. The typical target audience of such projects likely spends time on Coinbase or Binance and has at least some technical understanding of the underlying technology of the products they use.

Developers optimize their products for crypto-natives and push for more functionality at a cost of even more complexity, resulting in a steeper learning curve for new users. The hope that consumers will eventually “get it” is misguided. We need to start thinking about how to bring the crypto industry to the new generation of users in a way that is both engaging and accessible.

The behavioral characteristics of Telegram and TON’s global user base are different from the typical patterns of crypto adoption—they’re transaction-oriented rather than speculation-focused, and value immediate utility over theoretical potential. For example, the rapid adoption of TON-based games like Catizen, which onboarded over 20 million users in just months, demonstrates how intuitive, value-first experiences resonate.

Telegram and TON are uniquely placed to capture a vast new consumer base for web3 projects. As Pantera Capital’s Dan Morehead puts it,

“99.999% of blockchain projects are a tech idea trying to create a community—from nothing. … Telegram is a community integrating blockchain technology.”

What is to be done?

So, how can the industry make sure web3 thrives on Telegram? Firstly, the focus must return to the value added through DeFi primitives: yield, borrow, and swaps. DeFi can be embedded seamlessly into MiniApps, creating new monetization models without users needing to be aware they are interacting with the blockchain. For example, users can unlock in-game perks by temporarily locking tokens, generate yield through DeFi vaults, or use “Buy Now, Pay Later” mechanics backed by crypto collateral. Even token swaps can be streamlined within the MiniApps, transforming everyday actions like gaming or gifting into seamless DeFi interactions that benefit both developers and users. TAC is already enabling this shift by bringing blue-chip and battle-tested DeFi applications from the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem to TON and Telegram.

Secondly, developers must recognize that Telegram’s interface is not just a frontend; it is the environment where the next generation of consumer expectations are shaped. In general, users demand immediacy, simplicity, and relevance. Telegram MiniApps already serve as touchpoints for games, fintech, and social utilities, making them ideal vessels for embedding DeFi logic behind the scenes. Instead of placing a burden on users with gas fees or seed phrases, we can integrate these mechanics directly into