Opinion by: Vlad Kamyshov, CEO of Evaa Protocol
The race to construct the subsequent huge Web3 neobank is lacking the purpose. Most tasks are nonetheless targeted on launching standalone apps, creating new interfaces and rebuilding consumer acquisition methods from the bottom up. It’s a well-known playbook, and more and more an outdated one. In crypto, the subsequent technology of finance gained’t ask customers to change apps; it’ll meet them the place they already are.
Telegram and The Open Community (TON) aren’t making an attempt to change into neobanks themselves. They’ve already moved past that contest — one the place Revolut and Monzo nonetheless struggle for share. Collectively, they provide what practically each crypto banking product lacks: a built-in viewers, an intuitive interface, distribution embedded inside present consumer flows and the rails to ship instantaneous monetary utility.
Whereas others compete on options and flash, TON quietly offers the infrastructure to scale Web3 finance invisibly.
The longer term isn’t app-based — it’s embedded
Ethena’s integration into TON alerts a deeper shift within the Web3 banking playbook. It reveals that success gained’t come from creating shinier decentralized finance (DeFi) frontends. It is going to come from embedding highly effective instruments into the platforms that customers already know and belief.
With over 100 million TON wallets and 1 billion-plus Telegram customers, TON has already solved crypto’s most complicated problem: distribution.
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The Web3 sector typically confuses innovation with reinvention. However customers don’t want one other app — they want much less friction. Telegram flips the script. As an alternative of asking individuals to alter their habits, they make crypto move straight into present habits. UX, not APY, is now the aggressive frontier.
Most individuals gained’t wade by automated market-maker liquidity swimming pools or staking dashboards to earn passive yield. The breakout second for Web3 finance gained’t be technical — it’ll be behavioral.
Faucet-to-yield, embedded straight into Telegram, units a brand new benchmark for usability. Customers can deposit USDe and begin incomes with just some faucets. No exterior wallets. No new accounts. No friction.
If crypto ever hopes to scale, it should cease promoting complexity and ship invisible infrastructure that works. Web3 doesn’t want to clarify itself to everybody. It must change into intuitive sufficient that no clarification is required.
TON is assembling the rails for an invisible monetary layer
Ethena is just one a part of a rising ecosystem. TON is stitching collectively the elements of a monetary super-app — not by advertising and marketing campaigns, however by utility. Tether Gold now offers onchain access to tokenized gold stored in Swiss vaults, and shortly, by tgBTC, customers can hold and spend Bitcoin natively within Telegram with out ever touching a conventional pockets or alternate.
This isn’t a set of instruments. It’s the blueprint for a brand new form of monetary entry layer — one which dissolves into the background whereas reshaping how customers work together with digital belongings.
Onchain is now not the principle battleground
Whereas different layer 1s compete on throughput, charges and complete worth locked, Telegram has already claimed an important territory: the interface. Telegram Mini Apps, bots and built-in wallets enable monetary providers to be skilled as a part of chat — not one thing customers should consciously “log in to.”
That is what mainstream adoption truly appears like. Not dashboards made for merchants however easy flows, minimal friction and finance that looks like messaging. Telegram has already onboarded the subsequent billion customers. TON is constructing the rails that may activate them.
The crypto trade is clinging to a delusion: that the perfect product wins. In actuality, the perfect interface already gained.
DeFi’s subsequent chapter is about consideration, not APYs
Yield-maximizing methods and technical complexity outlined the early DeFi playbook. However most customers don’t need to optimize. As an alternative, they need to take part. Telegram’s ecosystem presents that participation with out the steep studying curve. Monetary providers arrive natively contained in the house the place customers already spend their time.
To be clear, there’s nonetheless room for standalone innovation. Initiatives betting on consumer migration somewhat than consumer momentum could also be deprived within the period of embedded Web3 finance.
The tasks that proceed to chase progress by standalone apps and UX-heavy flows could quickly discover themselves out of step. Consideration is the brand new on-ramp. The true query isn’t how customers will uncover new apps — it’s whether or not monetary providers can attain them earlier than they need to look.
The highway forward: From apps to entry
Tightly built-in with Telegram, the subsequent section of TON’s evolution is about to redefine how customers have interaction with finance. AI brokers are anticipated to change into private assistants who information customers, execute transactions and simplify the complexities of crypto. Bitcoin (BTC) in Telegram gained’t simply be a retailer of worth — it’s going to energy lending, funds and extra. And new DeFi financial savings merchandise will merge blockchain utility with the intuitive, mobile-native simplicity individuals count on from fashionable neobanks.
The race to construct the subsequent Web3 neobank could already be over — not as a result of one app gained, however as a result of one platform rewrote the foundations. The winners would be the ones who embed, not compete.
The remainder could discover they constructed the proper product… within the unsuitable place.
Opinion by: Vlad Kamyshov, CEO of Evaa Protocol.
This text is for common data functions and isn’t meant to be and shouldn’t be taken as authorized or funding recommendation. The views, ideas, and opinions expressed listed below are the writer’s alone and don’t essentially replicate or symbolize the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
