Cloud-based instant messaging app Telegram is approaching a staggering 1 billion users, thanks to the rapidly growing tap-to-earn crypto game trend that has sent users flocking to the platform.
Pavel Durov, Founder and CEO of Telegram, announced on Monday that the messaging platform has reached 950 million monthly active users, being “up from 900 million in the spring,” and “on track for 1 billion!”
This surge of worldwide interest in crypto games has led to skyrocketing activity on The Open Network (TON) blockchain which these titles are built on, with $TON now the 10th largest cryptocurrency in the world, with a $17 billion USD market cap.
What are Telegram’s most popular games?
Debuting in May 2024, Notcoin was one of the inaugural tap-to-earn games on Telegram, and has amassed a user base of over 35 million players. This simple yet addictive game was one of the first of its kind to bring a play-to-airdrop mechanic to this genre, resulting in the launch of $NOT – the biggest gaming token launch of the year so far.
Hamster Kombat took the tap-to-earn idea and ran with it. In Hamster Kombat, players take on the role of a Hamster CEO of a crypto exchange, tapping the screen to earn Coins which can be used on a variety of upgrades, making each tap earn more Coins, and to generate passive Coin income.
The game is a global phenomenon, hitting 100 million users in June 2024 and over 250 million users earlier this month. The game is currently in its play-to-airdrop phase, whereby these Coins will be converted into a token allocation for an upcoming airdrop.
Many more popular tap-to-earn titles like Yescon, Musk Empire, Catizen, and Pixeltap have followed, attracting millions more users to Telegram, with each title planning to launch its own token.
Pixeltap and Musk Empire recently partnered with Notcoin in one of the first alliances we’ve seen in the tap-to-earn space thus far, with the aim to grow their respective user bases and offer additional benefits for $NOT holders.
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