Messaging app Telegram is becoming even more crypto-focused after announcing a feature that allows creators to earn Toncoin (TON), the native cryptocurrency of The Open Network. 

The app’s developers said Wednesday that users can now send reactions in Stars—an off-chain, in-app currency tied to TON—to content creators and channels, and then those Stars can then be converted into TON. And if those receiving the Stars don’t want TON, then they can use them to pay for advertising.

Both Telegram and the independently operated Open Network are working to turn the messaging app—which has nearly 1 billion users worldwide, according to data from Telegram—into a crypto-friendly platform with spin-off mini apps. 

The announcement noted that channel operators will “receive 100% of the stars,” whether they ultimately decide to convert them to TON or use them to pay for ads. It added that those who send stars have to pay for them to begin with via a paid reaction function on the app. 

TON is the ninth-biggest digital asset with a market cap of $17.7 billion, according to CoinGecko. Its price currently stands at $7.04, after rising 9% in the past day.

The Open Network was originally created within Telegram itself, but the company abandoned the project in 2020 following a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit. Independent developers continued to build out the network, however, which has grown in prominence over the last year due to crypto games and other apps.

Telegram has since embraced TON on its platform, integrating the cryptocurrency in various ways around its advertising efforts—but Telegram does not run the TON network.

Other features on the platform include being able to send users Bitcoin and USDT. Such features were not conceived by Telegram itself. 

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