Telegram's Stars in-app currency is now more useful than ever. Creators can now share content on the messaging platform, and while users pay to see the content using Stars, channels can convert it into cryptocurrency.
The chat app reportedly enables channels to exchange their existing stars for Toncoin, the cryptocurrency Telegram uses on the blockchain of The Open Network (TON). Alternatively, they might use them to obtain savings for promotions through channels.
(Photo : GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT/AFP via Getty Images)
In the beginning, the company used Stars to pay for digital products supplied by Telegram bots and apps. Content providers can now publish material that users can access by earning Stars.
Additionally, channel owners can use the Fragment platform to withdraw Stars from the app and exchange them for Toncoin. Toncoin users can transfer money to their bank account and trade cryptocurrencies on various platforms. Telegram has begun auctioning off usernames on the TON blockchain through this gateway.
Channel owners have an alternative: they can use Stars to obtain discounts on advertisements that they can use to advertise their channels.
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Telegram and Crypto
Telegram allegedly uses cryptocurrency to increase revenue without selling user data or worrying about governmental scrutiny. Thanks to Telegram's end-to-end encryption, no outside party can access user data. However, as a result, it has been unable to control content and create an ad-based economy.
The Telegram Open Network (TON) was initially developed by Telegram, but the project was shelved due to legal concerns. Renaming The Open Network and introducing Toncoin, the TON Foundation started working on the blockchain again to protect the technology.
If it is successful, sources imply that Telegram might develop into a "super app" without improving its behavior. However, this has more ramifications than making the dark web accessible to the general public. Criminals and extremists who host well-known channels may be compensated in cryptocurrency for their work.
Telegram's Encryption Security
Additionally, concerns regarding the security of the messaging app were sparked by a social media interview with Telegram founder Pavel Durov that went viral.
In a highly shared X video, Durov tells Tucker Carlson that he is Telegram's only product manager and has "about 30 engineers" under his charge.
Security experts are concerned about Durov's remarks because they may reveal users' identities. According to Johns Hopkins cryptography expert Matthew Green, Telegram presents a "security nightmare" because of its ugly targets, UAE servers, and lack of end-to-end encryption.
Green means Telegram's default chats aren't end-to-end encrypted, unlike Signal or WhatsApp. Durov's brother created the encryption technology used by Telegram, which has been called into doubt over time. End-to-end encryption can only be enabled by users starting a "Secret Chat."
Although the organization has access to a large amount of user data, Eva Galperin, the director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, asserts that thirty engineers are not enough to solve content moderation and misuse issues.
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