Telegram Is Not A Neobank
Opinion by: Vlad Kamyshov, CEO of Evaa Protocol
The race to build the next big Web3 neobank is missing the point. Most projects are still focused on launching standalone apps, creating new interfaces and rebuilding user acquisition strategies from the ground up. It’s a familiar playbook, and increasingly an outdated one. In crypto, the next generation of finance won’t ask users to switch apps; it’ll meet them where they already are.
Telegram and The Open Network (TON) aren’t trying to become neobanks themselves. They’ve already moved beyond that contest — one where Revolut and Monzo still fight for share. Together, they offer what nearly every crypto banking product lacks: a built-in audience, an intuitive interface, distribution embedded inside existing user flows and the rails to deliver instant financial utility.
While others compete on features and flash, TON quietly provides the infrastructure to scale Web3 finance invisibly.
The future isn’t app-based — it’s embedded
Ethena’s integration into TON signals a deeper shift in the Web3 banking playbook. It shows that success won’t come from creating shinier decentralized finance (DeFi) frontends. It will come from embedding powerful tools into the platforms that users already know and trust.
With over 100 million TON wallets and 1 billion-plus Telegram users, TON has already solved crypto’s most complex challenge: distribution.
Related: Pudgy Penguins debuts play-to-win game on TON
The Web3 sector often confuses innovation with reinvention. But users don’t need another app — they need less friction. Telegram flips the script. Instead of asking people to change their behavior, they make crypto flow directly into existing habits. UX, not APY, is now the competitive frontier.
Most people won’t wade through automated market-maker liquidity pools or staking dashboards to earn passive yield. The breakout moment for Web3 finance won’t be technical — it’ll be behavioral.
Tap-to-yield, embedded directly into Telegram, sets a new benchmark for usability. Users can deposit USDe and start earning with just a few taps. No external wallets. No new accounts. No friction.
If crypto ever hopes to scale, it must stop selling complexity and deliver invisible infrastructure that works. Web3 doesn’t need to explain itself to everyone. It needs to become intuitive enough that no explanation is required.
TON is assembling the rails for an invisible financial layer
Ethena is only one part of a growing ecosystem. TON is stitching together the components of a financial super-app — not through marketing campaigns, but through utility. Tether Gold now offers onchain access to tokenized gold stored in Swiss vaults, and soon, through tgBTC, users can hold and spend Bitcoin natively within Telegram without ever touching a traditional wallet or exchange.
This isn’t a collection of tools. It’s the blueprint for a new kind of financial access layer — one that dissolves into the background while reshaping how users interact with digital assets.
Onchain is no longer the main battleground
While other layer 1s compete on throughput, fees and total value locked, Telegram has already claimed the most important territory: the interface. Telegram Mini Apps, bots and built-in wallets allow financial services to be experienced as part of chat — not something users must consciously “log in to.”
This is what mainstream adoption actually looks like. Not dashboards made for traders but smooth flows, minimal friction and finance that feels like messaging. Telegram has already onboarded the next billion users. TON is building the rails that will activate them.
The crypto industry is clinging to a myth: that the best product wins. In reality, the best interface already won.
DeFi’s next chapter is about attention, not APYs
Yield-maximizing strategies and technical complexity defined the early DeFi playbook. But most users don’t want to optimize. Instead, they want to participate. Telegram’s ecosystem offers that participation without the steep learning curve. Financial services arrive natively inside the space where users already spend their time.
To be clear, there’s still room for standalone innovation. Projects betting on user migration rather than user momentum may be disadvantaged in the era of embedded Web3 finance.
The projects that continue to chase growth through standalone apps and UX-heavy flows may soon find themselves out of step. Attention is the new on-ramp. The real question isn’t how users will discover new apps — it’s whether financial services can reach them before they have to look.
The road ahead: From apps to access
Tightly integrated with Telegram, the next phase of TON’s evolution is set to redefine how users engage with finance. AI agents are expected to become personal assistants who guide users, execute transactions and simplify the complexities of crypto. Bitcoin (BTC) in Telegram won’t just be a store of value — it will power lending, payments and more. And new DeFi savings products will merge blockchain utility with the intuitive, mobile-native simplicity people expect from modern neobanks.
The race to build the next Web3 neobank may already be over — not because one app won, but because one platform rewrote the rules. The winners will be the ones who embed, not compete.
The rest may find they built the right product… in the wrong place.
Opinion by: Vlad Kamyshov, CEO of Evaa Protocol.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
