Telegram Launches Browser and Mini App Store

The crypto-friendly communications platform Telegram has launched a browser and mini app store along with other updates.

Users can switch between websites and platform messaging with the browser, which includes decentralized websites called TON Sites, as noted by Telegram CEO Pavel Durov.

> "Telegram's browser supports decentralized websites hosted on TON — in all mobile and native desktop apps. This makes Web3 immediately available to our almost one billion monthly users," the Telegram team wrote in a Wednesday blog post.

Telegram users can also send Stars, units of the mini-app payment system, to their friends, in addition to improvements to the platform's app store such as search options, previews of the app from developers, and sharing mini apps into a user's content called Stories.

Durov initially announced plans to implement the in-app browser and mini-app store on July 19. Many games on Telegram gained popularity this year, such as the web3 tap-to-earn game Catizen, which amassed $16 million in in-app purchases.

Catizen and Telegram's other top game Hamster Kombat utilize The Open Network's native cryptocurrency Toncoin (TON), which traded at $6.79 after seeing a 1.05% increase in the past 24 hours, according to The Block Prices.