Pavel Durov - Afrikan Heroes

TON Adds Option to Send Cryptocurrency on Telegram

May 8, 2022

The Open Network (TON) foundation has announced that users will now be able to send crypto payments on its Telegram two years after the platform abandoned its blockchain effort.

According to The Verge, Telegram shut down its cryptocurrency operation after it had received unbearable pressure from the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

TON announced in a Twitter post that Telegram now supports Toncoin transactions with no fees attached.

TON is a project that was developed by Telegram CEO Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai in 2018. A year after the project was launched the SEC ordered Telegram to halt its sales of Gram, the token linked to the TON blockchain, claiming that it had failed to register the $1.7-billion in sales collected as part of its pre-Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Telegram, however, abandoned the TON foundation in 2020.

After the WhatsApp competitor dropped its previous blockchain operation it managed to bring forth a new one and rebranded it from Gram to Toncoin.

“I’m proud that the technology we created is alive and evolving… TON is still years ahead of everything else in the blockchain realm,” Durov said last December, according to The Verge.

The TON project also managed to raise $1-billion in donations earlier in April.

Currently, Telegram allows merchants to create bots that enable their customers to checkout on the platform. Merchant bots can send specially formatted invoice messages to users, groups, or channels, according to Techweez.

The app can send invoice messages that feature a “Pay” button, along with a picture and description of the product that you are paying for. Tapping on the button opens a special payment interface within the app. The interface allows users to choose a tip amount (if allowed by the merchant) and enter additional details like shipping info, phone number, or email address.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

How to Move Chats from WhatsApp to Telegram

January 30, 2021

With the mass dumping of WhatApp by millions of subscribers, rival platforms such as Telegram and Signal are coming up with ways to make migration as seamless as possible, moreso, they are upgrading their functionalities to appeal to more subscribers. The founder of Telegrams said earlier last week that WhatsApp is behind the “Largest Digital Migration in History”. According to the Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, Facebook’s recent attempt to update WhatsApp’s privacy policy has left many users concerned and searching for a more ‘secure’ messaging platform, like Telegram. Telegram has launched a new feature that allows users to import their WhatsApp individual and group chat history – including videos and documents – to Telegram.

Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, — Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov

For subscribers using the Apple iOS platforms, to move a chat from WhatsApp on iOS, open the Contact Info or Group Info page in WhatsApp, tap Export Chat, then choose Telegram in the Share menu. WhatsApp for iOS also lets you export chats directly from the chat list. Swipe left on a chat, then choose ‘…’ > Export Chat.

For those using Android platforms, what needs be done is to open a WhatsApp chat, tap ⋮ > More > Export Chat, then choose Telegram in the Share menu. Messages will be imported into the current day but will also include their original timestamps. In a recent statement, Durov revealed that a number of political leaders and numerous public organizations rely on Telegram to combat misinformation and spread awareness about important issues in their societies.

He goes on to say that “unlike other networks, Telegram doesn’t use nontransparent algorithms to decide whether a subscriber will see content they subscribed to or not. As a result, Telegram channels are the only direct way for opinion leaders to reliably connect with their audiences.” “By removing the manipulative algorithms that have become synonymous with 2010s technology platforms, Telegram channels restore transparency and integrity to public “one-to-many” communication.”