Telegram Wallet bot enables in-app payments in Bitcoin, USDT and TON
The cryptocurrency payment industry continues to evolve with a new cryptocurrency payment option coming to crypto-friendly Telegram messenger.
Wallet, a Telegram bot allowing users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), has launched a crypto payment solution based on The Open Network (TON) blockchain.
The new Wallet Pay service provides crypto payment transactions between users and retail businesses, enabling direct payments within the Telegram interface.
Announcing the news on July 13, Wallet told Cointelegraph that the new payment feature is immediately available within all jurisdictions supported by the wallet service.
At the moment, this list of supported jurisdictions supported by Wallet Pay includes most countries except for the United States and those blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force, a spokesperson for Wallet said. For example, Wallet Pay doesn’t serve countries like Iran, Myanmar and North Korea.
As some countries of Wallet bot’s operation do not allow residents to pay using cryptocurrency, the wallet service puts compliance responsibility on local businesses. The Wallet representative stated:
“Businesses should decide if they are allowed to do business within their jurisdiction before applying to make use of Wallet Pay.”
The list of jurisdictions that do not allow their residents to pay for products and services with crypto includes countries like Russia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Iran, Egypt and others. Russia, which officially banned domestic crypto payments in 2020, is the second-biggest country in terms of Telegram downloads after India, according to data from Statista. Indonesia, Egypt and Vietnam are also among the top 10 countries of Telegram app downloads.
Wallet Pay’s representative noted that the platform isn’t aware of what merchants would be first to test out its payment feature because the firm hasn’t launched the Know Your Business (KYB) procedure yet. The spokesperson said:
“We have had a few hundred requests collected by our support team, but we did not start the KYB procedure with these requests prior to launch, so we don’t yet know who will be the first to implement the feature.”
The representative also stressed that the firm runs its operations independently from Telegram. The Wallet bot and application are based on the Telegram Web Apps open protocol, which allows developers to create their own apps and services on Telegram.
The payment service is available through a dedicated Telegram bot or the official Wallet Pay website. Users should be careful to ensure they validate the source of the bot if they consider trying it.
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Wallet’s new payment feature supports three cryptocurrencies that are currently featured on its wallet service. These cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Tether (USDT) and Toncoin (TON).
Unlike self-custodial or noncustodial wallets like MetaMask, the Telegram Wallet bot operates a custodial wallet with its own fee structure.
“As of today, Wallet is a custodial solution,” the spokesperson told Cointelegraph. The representative added that fees for crypto payments will “range from 1% to 3% during the beta period.”
According to the Wallet Support data, the Telegram Wallet bot also currently takes a 0.0004 BTC ($12) commission for withdrawing the cryptocurrency from its custodial wallet. USDT and TON’s withdrawal fees amount to 2 USDT and 0.05 TON, respectively.
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World
Egypt: Two Britons believed to be among 16 missing as tourist boat sinks after being ‘hit by large wave’
Two Britons are believed to be among more than a dozen people missing after a boat sank in the Red Sea off the Egyptian coast.
The yacht, called Sea Story, had 44 people on board, including 31 tourists of varying nationalities and 13 crew.
Authorities are searching for 16 people, including 12 foreign nationals and four Egyptians, the governor of the Red Sea region said, adding that 28 other people had been rescued.
Preliminary reports suggested a sudden large wave struck the vessel, capsizing it within about five minutes, governor Amr Hanafi said.
“Some passengers were in their cabins, which is why they were unable to escape,” he added in a statement.
Survivors rescued from the Sea Story in Marsa Alam. Pic: STR/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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Passengers rescued from sunken tourist boat
The people who were rescued only suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scrapes with none needing hospital treatment.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office spokesperson said: “We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Egypt and are in contact with the local authorities.”
The foreign nationals aboard the 34-metre-long vessel, owned by an Egyptian national, included Americans, Belgians, British, Chinese, Finns, Germans, Irish, Poles, Slovakians, Spanish, and Swiss.
Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits before the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March, according to officials.
The four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht was part of a multi-day diving trip when it went down near the coastal town of Marsa Alam following warnings about rough weather.
Officials said a distress call was received at 5.30am local time on Monday.
The boat had left Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday and was scheduled to reach its destination of Hurghada Marina on 29 November.
The Sea Story had 44 people on board. File pic: Dive Pro Liveaboard
Some survivors had been airlifted to safety on a helicopter, officials said.
The firm that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, said it has no information on the matter.
According to its maker’s website, the Sea Story was built in 2022.
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The incident comes after the Egyptian Meteorological Authority issued a warning on Saturday about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea.
The organisation had advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.
Some tourist companies have stopped or limited operations on the Red Sea due to the potential dangers from conflicts in the region.
A motion has been filed to drop the charges against Donald Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 US presidential election result.
Mr Trump was first indicted on four felonies in August 2023: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
The president-elect pleaded not guilty to all charges and the case was then put on hold for months as Mr Trump’s team argued he could not be prosecuted.
Special Counsel Jack Smith. Pic: Reuters
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On Monday, prosecutors working with special counsel Jack Smith, who had led the investigation, asked a federal judge to dismiss the case over long-standing US justice department policy, dating back to the 1970s, that presidents cannot be prosecuted while in office.
It marks the end of the department’s landmark effort to hold Mr Trump accountable for the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 when thousands of Trump supporters assaulted police, broke through barricades, and swarmed the Capitol in a bid to prevent the US Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Mr Smith’s team had been assessing how to wind down both the election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Mr Trump’s election victory over vice president Kamala Harris earlier this month, effectively killing any chance of success for the case.
In court papers, prosecutors said “the [US] Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated”.
They said the ban [on prosecuting sitting presidents] “is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the government stands fully behind”.
Mr Trump, who has said he would sack Mr Smith as soon as he takes office in January, and promised to pardon some convicted rioters, has long dismissed both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case as politically motivated.
Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington. Pic: AP
He was accused of illegally keeping classified papers after leaving office in 2021, some of which were allegedly found in his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
The election interference case stalled after the US Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, which Mr Trump’s lawyers exploited to demand the charges against him be dismissed.
Mr Smith’s request to drop the case still needs to be approved by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
No date had been set for a trial.
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At least 1,500 cases have been brought against those accused of trying to overthrow the election result on 6 January 2021, resulting in more than 1,100 convictions, the Associated Press said.
More than 950 defendants have been sentenced and 600 of them jailed for terms ranging from a few days to 22 years.
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