Following the demise of the Toncoin project in 2019, Telegram users may now send and receive Toncoins, as well as make Bitcoin transactions.
Telegram has reinstated cryptocurrency support to its social media platform after a two-year absence due to a prolonged SEC investigation in 2019.
The Open Network (TON) Foundation tweeted Tuesday that the app now allows users to transfer and receive Toncoins, as well as make bitcoin purchases. With over 550 million active members, Telegram is one of the most widely used social networks on the planet.
The TON blockchain, developed by the foundation, is essential to the social app’s crypto infrastructure. Earlier this month, the organisation revealed that it had gathered $1 billion in contributions to help fund its development activities.
After that statement, Toncoin surged 14.3% from $2.03 on Tuesday to $2.32 on Wednesday before succumbing to sell-side market pressure. According to CoinGecko’s statistics, the coin is now trading for $2.06, a decrease of 10% in the last 24 hours.
Transaction fees are no longer necessary and lengthy crypto addresses will no longer be required, according to the company’s release.
It is the first time since October 2019 that the software has been able to use bitcoin again. After receiving a request from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to suspend the sale of its native “Gram” tokens, Telegram abruptly ended the initiative. Telegram was forced to repay the $1.2 billion it earned in the token sale and pay an $18.5 million fine as part of a 2020 settlement.
Pavel Durov, Telegram’s CEO and creator, tweeted at the time that the company’s “active engagement with TON is finished.”
By May 2020, Telegram’s participation in TON had waned, and the TON blockchain’s open-source code had been forked by a number of interested parties and enterprises.
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