Crypto Wallet Launches Testnet Trades for 300M Telegram Users

Non-custodial and multi-cryptocurrency wallet provider Button Wallet is launching a free testing service on the Telegram Open Network (TON) in a bid to drive crypto adoption among Telegram’s 300 million users.

The client application is offering a giveaway 6.6 testnet GRAM tokens — the native currency of Telegram’s TON blockchain platform — for users that activate its wallet, Forbes reported on Aug. 26.

Onboarding a TON of people

Alex Safonov — Button Wallet’s co-founder and CEO — has said the GRAM token giveaway aims to encourage adoption by giving users the practical experience of transacting digital assets without risk. He said:

"Cryptos' biggest obstacle is mass adoption and what we’ve created will help people comfortable with trading cryptocurrency without using real money."

Safonov alluded to the “fanfare surrounding Facebook’s libra digital currency” — a crypto payments network that the social media titan plans to integrate into apps such as Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. 

Notwithstanding this overheated anticipation, he went on to imply that without the concrete experience of using cryptocurrency transaction services, adoption continues to lag behind. 

Button Wallet’s chief operations officer Rachel McCrary likewise claimed that “there’s common fear around crypto which is preventing some people from becoming new users.”

Security wobbles

As Forbes notes, just as Button Wallet launches its third-party testing wallet services on the encrypted messaging app, reports have surfaced that a technical bug is causing Telegram’s group messaging chats to be leaked.

Anxiety around the apparent bug has beset pro-democracy activists and Telegram users in Hong Kong, who reportedly fear that the issue could expose them to the Chinese authorities.  

With privacy and data integrity both hotly contested issues in the social network era, Cointelegraph recently published an analysis that compares the respective plans of Telegram and Facebook to launch in-app crypto payments networks for a mass audience.