The Open Network Foundation has introduced TON Pay, a new payments software development kit aimed at enabling cryptocurrency payments directly within Telegram. The SDK allows merchants and Mini App developers to accept Toncoin and supported stablecoins through a wallet-agnostic checkout flow embedded in the messaging platform.
TON Pay aims to leverage Telegram’s global user base of 1.1 billion monthly active users. Nikola Plecas, vice president of payments at the TON Foundation, noted that the system is built for sub-second transaction times with fees typically remaining below one cent. The initial rollout focuses on in-app commerce, with future updates expected to include support for subscription models, gasless transactions, and regional fiat off-ramps to balance decentralized architecture with compliance requirements.
The move intensifies competition in the “everything app” sector, as platforms like X and Coinbase pursue similar integrated financial service strategies. While TON faces scrutiny regarding its deep integration with Telegram and historical decentralization concerns, the foundation maintains that the network remains permissionless. By embedding payment rails directly into the messaging interface, TON Pay attempts to position blockchain technology as a viable alternative to traditional fiat payment systems for everyday digital commerce.
