Telegram is bringing a new feature to its Wallet Bot that will allow users to exchange cryptocurrencies with each other, according to a report. Telegram users who want to sell crypto via the app will have to pay a 0.9% fee on transactions, while buyers will not be charged any fees.

Telegram to Charge 0.9% Fee to Crypto Sellers

Telegram launched a peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto exchange service that will allow users to trade cryptocurrencies from directly within the app. While the new feature was pitched as providing “anonymous P2P deals”, users are required to share their mobile phone numbers with the Telegram Wallet Bot to buy, sell, and exchange crypto.

The new service was created by the developers that launched the Wallet Bot in April, which lets Telegram users buy crypto with a bank card and transfer it to other wallets. The Wallet Bot also allows users to purchase Toncoin (TON) and send the token to other users through the chat.

The new service will charge crypto sellers a 0.9% fee on transactions, while crypto buyers will not be charged any commission, according to developers from The Open Network (TON) Foundation. The TON foundation is a non-commercial community of proponents and contributors of the TON blockchain that was created by the Durov brothers, who also founded Telegram Messenger.

“It is aimed towards ordinary users and provides a low entry threshold for learning about blockchain. Many services on TON are similar to the usual applications that people are already used to using.”

– a Telegram spokesperson told Blockworks.

The new crypto exchange service enables Telegram users to purchase crypto without leaving the app. It’s pitched to user by allowing them to “send it to your friends using a short nickname without long wallet addresses” as well as “get access to the internet with the @mobile bot, pay for a subscription to your favorite Telegram channel along with many other services,” they said.

Telegram Users Can Buy BTC and TON via USD, EUR, UAH, BYN and KZT

After the launch, Telegram users will be able to buy cryptocurrencies using USD, EUR, UAH, BYN and KZT. Those who wish to sell crypto tokens will have to publish notices in the app which buyers can then choose from.

At first, users will be able to buy only TON and Bitcoin (BTC), which has dropped significantly over the past several months. Telegram plans to expand the number of available cryptocurrencies in the future, though TON will remain the only token that can be sent directly through chats.

The move marks an important push into crypto for Telegram, whose initial coin offering (ICO) was halted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2020. The government agency forced Telegram to return $1.2 billion it raised for the offering to investors and pay an $18.5 million penalty. In the response, Telegram said the SEC’s actions were “unreasonable and wholly unnecessary.”

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist

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