TON Pay Aims to Turn Telegram Into a Crypto Checkout Layer for 1.1B Users

• The TON blockchain has launched TON Pay, a new shared payments layer for any app deployed on its network.
• The new patform, which comes with instant onchain settlement, aims to turn Telegram into a crypto checkout system for over 1 billion users.

The TON blockchain has announced the launch of TON Pay, a new payments software that will allow developers to integrate decentralized payments into their applications with a few clicks.

Introducing the new product, the network said it would let developers and merchants globally accept crypto payments across all TON apps, starting with Telegram mini apps. Telegram is one of the world’s largest messaging services, hitting 1 billion monthly active users last year, half of whom use the application daily.

TON Pay will enable fast and low-fee transactions, which the TON Foundation says should be below $0.01.

Additionally, it will come with a software development kit (SDK) that will enable developers to easily integrate it into their applications and services. This includes web applications, Telegram mini apps, backend services and even bots. On the SDK, developers can create, verify and manage all the payments.

TON Pay Targets Telegram’s 1 Billion Users

With TON Pay, any app gets to receive Toncoin and jettons for payment without requiring any blockchain expertise, documents released by the Foundation say. Toncoin is the native currency of the TON ecosystem, while jettons are any token deployed on the network, like ERC-20s are for Ethereum.

Soon, the merchants and developers will be able to convert their tokens to fiat through partner services. This would open up a vast market of services that would rather receive their payments in fiat but want to appeal to crypto natives.

The SDK can be easily integrated into websites and apps without needing to rebuild the blockchain logic, and its easy setup requires minimal configuration.

TON Pay also natively supports TON Connect, the standard method that apps built on the TON blockchain enable users to sign in with their wallets. This allows the new service to support both custodial and non-custodial wallets, from Tonkeeper and OpenMask to MyTonWallet and Tonhub.

The new service supports diverse types of payments, from one-time transfers to recurring payments and subscriptions, all with customizable reference IDs. Transaction tracking is made possible through real-time status monitoring and confirmation receipts.

As CNF reported, TON ecosystem wallet AlphaTON recently partnered with the Midnight Network to introduce confidential AI to the Telegram user base.

TON trades at $1.35, losing 4.5% of its value in the past day for a $3.29 billion market cap.