Wallet Pay Launches Crypto Payment Solutions On Telegram, But Indonesia Can't

JAKARTA - The crypto payment industry continues to grow with new crypto payment options coming to the crypto-friendly Telegram messaging app.

Wallet, a Telegram bot that allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, has launched a blockchain-based crypto payment solution The Open Network (TON).

This new service called Wallet Pay provides crypto payment transactions between users and retail businesses, which allow direct payments within the Telegram interface.

The announcement of the news was made on July 13, and Wallet told Cointelegraph that the new payment feature is directly available to all jurisdictions supported by wallet services.

Currently, the Wallet Pay-backed jurisdiction list includes most of the countries, except the United States and countries on the blacklist by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), according to a Wallet spokesperson. For example, Wallet Pay does not serve countries such as Iran, Myanmar, and North Korea.

Since several countries where Wallet bots operate do not allow residents to pay using cryptocurrencies, compliance responsibility is transferred to local businesses. "Business must decide whether they are allowed to operate in their jurisdiction before submitting an application to use Wallet Pay," said a representative from Wallet.

A list of jurisdictions that do not allow residents to pay for products and services with cryptocurrencies including countries such as Russia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Iran, Egypt, and others. Russia, which officially bans domestic crypto payments in 2020, is the second largest country in terms of Telegram downloads after India, according to data from Statista. Indonesia, Egypt, and Vietnam are also among the top 10 countries in terms of downloading the Telegram application.

Representatives from Wallet Pay confirmed that the platform does not know which merchants will first try this payment feature because the company has not yet launched the Know Your Business (KYB) procedure.

"We've raised several hundred requests from our support team, but we haven't started the KYB procedure with these requests before launch, so we don't know who will be the first to implement this feature," Wallet spokeswoman said.

The representative also stressed that the company is running its operations independently of Telegram. Bots and Wallet apps are based on the open Telegram Web Apps protocol, which allows developers to create their own apps and services on the Telegram platform.

This payment service can be accessed via a dedicated Telegram bot or via the official Wallet Pay website. Users must be careful to ensure a valid bot source if they are considering trying it.

The new payment feature of Wallet supports the three cryptocurrencies currently displayed in its wallet service. The crypto includes Bitcoin, Tether, and Toncoin (TON).

Unlike non-custodian wallets such as MetaMask, the Telegram Wallet bot operates as a custodian wallet with its own cost structure.

"At this point, Wallet is a custodian solution," the spokesperson said. The representative added that the cost of crypto payments would be "rank between 1% and 3% over the beta period."

According to Wallet Support data, the Telegram Wallet bot is currently also charging a commission fee of 0.00.0004 BTC (12 US dollars) to withdraw crypto from their custodial wallet. Withdrawal fees for USDT and TON are 2 USDT and 0.05 TONS, respectively.