Cryptocurrency trading bot Wallet is debuting its global rollout on the Telegram messenger in several countries in Latin America and Africa.
The Open Platform (TOP), the Dubai-headquartered investment platform affiliated with TOP Labs and Wallet, announced the global rollout of the Wallet crypto bot on Nov. 10.
Wallet, a third-party Telegram bot allowing users to buy and sell crypto, is now available on the Telegram settings menu for users in Colombia, South Africa and Kenya.
The Wallet crypto bot has been accessible to global users for several months, but users were required to find the bot by clicking “@Wallet” on Telegram. With the latest update, users can see Wallet directly on the menu without needing to find the bot or even know much about crypto to start using it.
In addition to the default custodial wallet, users can also use Wallet’s self-custody crypto solution called TON Space. Wallet’s self-custody sub-wallet allows users to perform decentralized swaps within TON Space and transfer nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, using the self-custody wallet.
TOP has chosen to start the Wallet global rollout in developing markets to help users access more financial tools and to benefit from its significant user base in related regions.
“Our main focus is on developing markets where the lack of accessible financial tools has generated an organic demand for crypto assets,” a spokesperson for TOP told Cointelegraph. “We know that Telegram has a significant user base in these regions, and so it was only natural to start our global rollout in these jurisdictions,” the representative added.
According to data from World Population Review, Telegram has 4.49 million in Colombia as of 2023. Statista data suggests that about 50% of internet users in Kenya and South Africa were using Telegram as of Q3 2022.
“Countries like Nigeria, Kenya, and Colombia have a very active Telegram user base, with a relatively high rate of crypto adoption,” the TOP spokesperson said, adding:
“The regions in which we plan to initially launch natively to all users offer a huge opportunity to onboard a massive audience to Wallet. This is just the start of our goal to accelerate the mass market adoption of TON-based blockchain technology.”
The representative also noted that the TOP preferred to roll out the wallet in smaller countries before scaling the operational side of the product, as well as the technical side of the integration. “This will ensure that we are able to efficiently scale to the additional demand generated as the rollout continues,” the spokesperson noted.
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Following the initial rollout in Latin America and Africa, the Wallet crypto bot is expected to launch in Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Turkey in Q1 2024. The TOP expects to finalize the global rollout of Wallet on Telegram by the end of Q2 2024, the announcement notes.
“These strategic enhancements to Wallet and TON Space underscore our continued dedication to simplifying the crypto experience for mainstream audiences while maintaining robust security features,” TOP CEO Andrew Rogozov noted.
Despite letting Wallet enter the Telegram settings menu, Telegram has actively denied any affiliation with Wallet or TOP, while Wallet also stressed that it was operating independently from Telegram.
Rogozov, CEO of TOP and Wallet companies, was once CEO of VK.com, a major social media platform created by Telegram founder Pavel Durov. Rogozov resigned from VK in January 2022 to join the TON Foundation as a founding member. He also then founded First Stage Labs, which subsequently merged with Wallet and rebranded to TOP.
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