Messaging platform Telegram made headlines Sunday with its announcement that in-app advertisements can now be purchased using Toncoin, the native cryptocurrency of the TON blockchain.
This move marks a significant step in Telegram’s user monetization strategy, as it will allocate 50% of ad revenue generated within public channels directly to their respective owners.
Telegram opted for TON due to its advantageous features, including minimal transaction fees, rapid processing speeds, and an impressive capacity for transactions per second.
The TON blockchain, also known as The Open Network, stands out as a community-driven solution for facilitating high-speed transactions and supporting decentralized applications (dApps). It utilizes a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, enabling millions of transactions per second through a process known as sharding.
Sharding involves distributing data storage and processing tasks among smaller validator groups, effectively reducing transaction delays and enhancing network throughput.
In a significant achievement, blockchain security firm Certik recognized the TON blockchain in October 2023 as the world’s fastest network, surpassing established payment systems like Solana, Polygon, Visa, and Mastercard, boasting a record-breaking 104,715 transactions per second.
Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, previously hinted at the launch of the Telegram Ad Platform back in February, targeting advertisers across nearly 100 countries. Durov emphasized the platform’s vast potential, citing Telegram’s broadcast channels with 1 trillion monthly views.
Despite this impressive reach, only a modest 10% of this traffic was monetized. The introduction of the Telegram Ads platform aims to address this disparity.
This latest announcement empowers channel owners to monetize their content more effectively, positioning Telegram alongside other social media giants like YouTube and X, which already offer similar revenue-sharing models.
Telegram Ads introduce targeted promotion opportunities, providing a cost-effective advertising option for promoting bots and channels. Advertisers have control over ad placement, selecting specific channels where their ads will appear.
To further incentivize content creation and platform engagement, Telegram offers channel owners various benefits. They can withdraw their ad revenue without incurring fees and reinvest their earnings back into the Telegram ecosystem through additional advertising, acquiring unique usernames, or hosting premium content giveaways.
Toncoin, the cryptocurrency used for these transactions, has experienced significant growth, rising over 123% in the past month, with a last traded value of approximately $5.24 as of Monday.
