Social messaging giant Telegram has unveiled "Telegram Stars," a groundbreaking in-app token designed for seamless digital purchases on its platform.

"With Telegram Stars, mini apps can now accept payments for digital services using the simplest payment method possible – in-app purchases on Android and iOS," announced Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, in a June 6 Telegram post.

Developers can exchange Stars for Toncoin (TON), Telegram’s native cryptocurrency, via Fragment, a platform primarily used for buying and selling Telegram usernames. "They can also use Stars to further promote their apps on Telegram," Durov added.

Telegram plans to subsidize advertisements purchased with Stars on Apple and Google, which currently take a hefty 30% commission on digital product sales. Durov believes this move will incentivize developers economically: "If developers reinvest Stars in promoting their app, the overall commission will be nearly 0%. As a result, launching apps on Telegram makes more economic sense than launching traditional mobile apps."

Future updates will bring additional features and functionalities to Stars, including gifts for content creators, according to Telegram’s June 6 post.

Telegram has already experienced significant success with Notcoin (NOT), a "tap-to-earn" token app that gained 35 million users in just five months. Notcoin rewards users with NOT tokens for completing various social challenges.

With over 400 million of Telegram’s 900 million users interacting with Telegram bots and mini apps monthly, the introduction of Stars is expected to further boost user engagement and developer participation.

In April, Telegram also launched Tether on the TON blockchain, partnering with the stablecoin issuer to enhance cryptocurrency adoption via the messaging platform. This integration simplifies the process for users, eliminating the need to acquire different types of crypto or tokens.

Recently, TON reached a new all-time high price of $7.65, though it has since stabilized at $7.50, maintaining an $18.2 billion market cap, still below its peak of $25.2 billion set in April.