Telegram is set to create a set of decentralized tools, including non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges, according to founder Pavel Durov via his Telegram channel on November 30.
The initiative is a response to FTX’s recent collapse, Durov said, as the industry ended up being concentrated in the “hands of a few to abuse their power.” As a result, many people lost their money when FTX, one of the biggest exchanges, went bankrupt.”
The announcement comes weeks after the launch of Fragment, a decentralized auction platform for unique usernames based on The Open Network, or TON, a layer-1 blockchain. According to Durov, Fragment has seen $50 million in revenue. usernames sold in less than a month.
Besides founding Telegram and Fragment, Durov was also behind the first official version of the TON blockchain. He said of the new decentralized tools being developed:
“The solution is clear: blockchain-based projects need to go back to their roots – decentralization. Cryptocurrency users need to transition to trustless transactions and self-hosted wallets that are independent of third parties.”
Durov also remarked on the inefficiencies of legacy platforms, specifically mentioning Ethereum, “which sadly remains outdated and expensive even after its recent tweaks.” He went on to say:
“The days when the inefficiencies of legacy platforms justified centralization should be long gone. With technologies like TON reaching their potential, the blockchain industry should finally be able to fulfill its core mission – empowering people. people.”
Related: Telegram username auction market is ‘almost’ ready to launch
The most recent tool released by the Telegram team, Fragment, was built in five weeks with five people working on the solution, according to Durov. The idea was first floated at the end of August, with the team aiming to use “NFT-like smart contracts” to auction off highly sought after usernames. Fragment launched soon after TON Foundation launched the TON DNSallowing users to assign human-readable names to crypto wallets, smart contracts, and websites.