The Future of Telegram and The Open Network(TON) Blockchain in Ethiopia.

The most used messaging App in Ethiopia is Telegram, The only African country that uses Telegram more than any other messaging App out there.

This map shows the most used (#one) Messaging App in that Country.

Telegram has more than 700 million monthly active users and is one of the top 5? most downloaded apps in the world. The facts that led Telegram to this success are its security, privacy anditss useful and advanced features. Let's look at some amazing Telegram features added recently.

1. Telegram Bot API

Bots are?small applications?that run entirely within the Telegram app. Users interact with bots through?flexible interfaces?that support any task or service. For more information Telegram bots can host full?Web Apps?built with?JavaScript. This allows for?infinitely flexible?interfaces that can power everything from online stores to arcade games. Unlike websites, bots support?seamless authorization?and notifications through Telegram out of the box. This bot API allows you to build

• Replace the Entire websites
• Receive Payments
• Create Custom Tools
• Integrate with other services
• Host Games
• Build social networks and anything else

2. collectible usernames

Telegram has launched the ability to buy and sell short recognizable @usernames for personal accounts, public groups, and channels. The auction for the best usernames is live on Fragment: https://fragment.com

The ownership of these collectible usernames is secured in the immutable ledger of TON, a fast and scalable blockchain network. Owners can add multiple username aliases to their personal account, group or channel. Each collectible name can be accessed with its @username on Telegram, or outside Telegram using links such as #username.t.me and t.me/username.

For the first time in the history of social media, people have full ownership of their usernames. Long-time Telegram users who have been using short usernames they registered early on can now benefit from the platform's growth by selling their usernames in fair, transparent, fully decentralized auctions.

3. Anonymous Login

Anyone can acquire an anonymous number from Fragment to log in or sign up without a SIM card – powered by blockchain. These numbers don’t receive calls or SMS – instead, your login code is always available in the My Anonymous Numbers section of Fragment. Like collectible usernames, ownership of anonymous numbers is tied to your TON wallet in the blockchain and can be sold or traded to others.

These three features I mentioned are blockchain related and that I consider Useful for Developers and Advanced Users but Telegram has many helpful.

The Open Network(TON)

TON is a decentralized?layer-1 blockchain?developed in 2018 by the encrypted messaging platform Telegram. The project was then abandoned, taken over by the TON Foundation, and renamed from "Telegram Open Network" to "The Open Network". Since 2020, the technology has been developing thanks to a non-commercial group of supporters and an independent community of enthusiasts who called themselves the TON Foundation. Toncoin, formerly known as Gram, is the native cryptocurrency of the TON network.

The original idea was to integrate TON into an easy-to-use application that allows users to buy/send/store funds. Clients pay transaction fees and use TON to settle payments or validate transactions. Toncoin utilizes the?proof-of-stake?(PoS) consensus model for network scalability and reliability. According to the project website, the platform provides its customers with fast, transparent, and secure payment services, facilitating transactions with minimal fees and third-party applications.

The developers’ mission is to build a full-fledged ecosystem with decentralized storage, decentralized services, a domain name system (DNS equivalent), an anonymous network, an instant payment platform, and affordable/fast transaction processing. The Open Network is a community-driven blockchain with a flexible architecture and focuses on serving a typical consumer. TON stands out due to the fast processing/validation of?transactions per second?(TPS). In September 2021, the network processed a then-world record of 55,000 TPS during a contest, although the current TPS could be in the hundreds of thousands or even millions. This feature allows the project to grow rapidly while avoiding performance losses. At the same time, the project does not harm the environment.

Telegram is open source and powerful with lots of features, That make it easy for Developers to build tolls on top of it. onboarding users to your tolls are very easy compared to other ways, the user is already using telegram the only thing they have to do is start your bot to use your service or tools, they don't have to download and install apps or visit your website by opening browser.

The compatibility of Telegram with the TON blockchain makes things easy to develop blockchain related tools and services:- like Dapp, Defi, exchanges, and many more.

In Ethiopia Telegram is already serving as a trusted news source, a medium of discussion, connecting employers with the employee, and many amazing things through its channels, groups, and bots. recently big government and privet institutions started providing their services through a telegram bot, I strongly believe that many more will follow recently because why not Telegram will serve as a super App that contains many Apps as a bot, it's going to be the WeChat of Ethiopia.

Dawit Mengistu,