Bitget and Foresight Ventures invest $20 million in Telegram Mini apps
Telegram’s Mini Apps initiative has secured significant funding to advance the integration of Web3 technologies into the messaging platform. Bitget Wallet and Foresight Ventures have committed $20 million (approximately Rs. 168 crore) to fuel the growth of Telegram’s mini-apps, as reported by Cointelegraph on Monday, November 11. As of July 2024, Telegram reported that 500 million of the 950 million global users engaged with Mini Apps every month.
The funding is intended to support the expansion of the Telegram Mini Apps ecosystem, allowing it to develop a strategic roadmap for growth and continue offering Web3 games with crypto and NFT features to its global user base for enhanced in-app entertainment.
According to MuntTelegraafhas offered Bitget Wallet to let Web3 app makers use their own developer kit to create more games and services that integrate Web3 into Telegram’s interface. The developer kit is called OmniConnect and that’s what it was launched in September this year.
Web3 developers will also have the opportunity to collaborate with existing Mini Apps to expand their game offerings under established brands. Telegram’s Mini Apps, launching in 2023, will allow developers to build in-app applications using languages such as HTML and JavaScript, making these apps accessible through Telegram’s app store.
Telegram reportedly told Cointelegraph that offering this in-app development feature was a natural progression, driven by developer demand for creating more advanced applications. These developers use the Telegram-affiliated TON blockchain to design and launch Web3 apps and games.
“TON Blockchain is the obvious choice to integrate when you look at the scale of some of these applications. Notcoin quickly gained 40 million users, while Hamster Kombat has about 300 million players,” the report quoted Alena Shmalko, ecosystem leader of the TON Foundation.
TON’s Web3 engine gives Telegram’s platform a competitive advantage, opening new monetization opportunities for creators and giving users real ownership of their digital assets.”
Dogs, Hamster Kombat and Notcoin have recently emerged as some of the most popular names on Telegram Mini Apps, and are quickly gaining popularity among Telegram users.
For Bitget, this investment in Telegram’s Web3 unit could serve as a strategy to encourage more developers to use its developer tools. The platform claimed that it had more than 12 million monthly active users as of September. The same month, Bitget and Foresight Ventures had done so announced a $30 million investment in TON blockchain.
