Telegram nears one billion users as crypto games fuel growth

Since April, the Telegram messaging app has gained 50 million new monthly active users, bringing the total to 950 million. The platform, now experiencing a boom in crypto games, is on track to reach its goal of one billion users.

Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov announced the numbers. As reported by Cybernews in April, Durov estimated that the one billion mark should be reached within a year. In comparison, WhatsApp, controlled by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, has over two billion active monthly users.

However, what WhatsApp doesn't have is a blockchain and crypto-powered ecosystem of apps and a booming crypto-gaming world.

Telegram is utilizing The Open Network (TON) blockchain, which was initially developed by the company before being abandoned due to regulatory pressure in the US. The project was later picked up by independent contributors and is now strongly supported by Telegram.

Telegram has become one of the hottest platforms for crypto-powered gaming apps.

Prominent examples include Notcoin, a so-called tap-to-earn game that claims to have reached 35 million active users in a few months.

Players earn tokens by tapping a virtual coin on a smartphone screen and completing various in-game tasks. Users were also incentivized by an airdrop, or giveaway, of NOT tokens, supported by major crypto exchanges, worth $500 to $1,000, according to the company.

Another hot example is Hamster Kombat, also a tap-to-earn game that claims it hit 100 million users in June and is also planning to launch its token.

While the two mentioned games claim to have amassed over 100 million users, it doesn't mean that they're always active, explaining the discrepancy with the 50 million new users announced by Durov.

In either case, the Telegram gaming world seems to still have some fuel left for further growth. For example, major crypto exchange OKX just launched a bitcoin (BTC) price guessing game on Telegram.

Meanwhile, web3 and blockchain gaming powerhouse Animoca Brands has partnered with the TON Foundation to incorporate identity and reputation networks into Animoca's subsidiary Moca Network and TON blockchain ecosystems.