What changes will the next period of cryptocurrency growth bring for the world Web3 is a question without a clear answer. CZ once stated: “The next bull market will likely allow DeFi surpass CeFi in volume.” If CZ's words come true, decentralized Web3 platforms could overtake centralized exchanges in popularity and attract more new users.
In the previous period of growth, MetaMask was one of the most prominent representatives of the entry portal to the world of Web3. Many other projects followed his example and tried to catch up with him in terms of functionality in order to become leaders in this race for popularity.
When many were looking for an alternative to MetaMask among wallets, Telegram entered the scene, introducing its built-in wallet, available to 800 million users. Thus, he began an invisible confrontation with MetaMask, seeking to gain its share of the Web3 market.
Although Telegram is not directly associated with Web3, its anonymity and censorship protection features have made it popular among Web3 users. Many projects use Telegram as the main place to interact with the community. And thanks to the surge in popularity of trading bots, Telegram has become the new way to log into Web3.
On the other hand, MetaMask is also actively developing. Over the past year, it has introduced a number of new features, as well as improved deposit and withdrawal channels, strengthening its position as the entry point into Web3.
Telegram and MetaMask started from different areas: Telegram is a messenger with an emphasis on communication, and MetaMask is a wallet for managing cryptocurrencies in the Web3 world. This is reminiscent of the battle for user traffic between WeChat and Alipay a few years ago.
Telegram: Bots instead of crypto wallets
At Telegram currently has about 800 million active users, but only about 10 million of them are interested in the Web3 world. In the last few months, the emergence of various bots has contributed to the fact that users are beginning to actively use Telegram as a platform for logging into Web3.
Unibot has become one of the most popular bots on Telegram. At the beginning of their development, telegram bots provided a wide range of functions, including token exchange, market analysis, automated trading and transfer of assets between blockchains.
Over time, bots associated with decentralized exchanges have become major players in this field. They acquired such functions as participation in IEO, combating frontrunning (MEV) and automatic copying of transactions. Currently, there are three main players in the DEX bot segment: Unibot, BananaGun and MaestroBot.
Meanwhile, on September 13, Telegram announced the choice of the TON network as its infrastructure for Web3 and the launch of the TONSpace wallet for Telegram users.
Thus, Telegram is gradually weakening the position of third-party wallets as the only entry point into Web3.
MetaMask: A True Web3 Harvester
MetaMask is the main gateway to the world of Web3 for most people. According to data published on the official ConsenSys website, MetaMask has more than 100 million users, works with 17,000 DApps and processes about 244,000 transactions every day.
In its early days, MetaMask was simply a digital asset management tool that allowed users to interact with projects on the Ethereum blockchain. However, over the past year, MetaMask has undergone a great evolution and become the universal gateway to the world of Web3.
MetaMask began to provide users with not only the ability to manage assets, but also use various blockchain applications. This was made possible thanks to the MetaMask Portfolio DApp, which combined functions related to various blockchains into a single interface for exchanging tokens, using bridges between blockchains, staking, etc.
In addition, MetaMask introduced the Snaps function, allowing third-party developers to create wallet plugins. These plugins extend the functionality of MetaMask so that it can work with non-EVM blockchains.
Thus, MetaMask aims to become a comprehensive interface for Web3, providing ease of use and reducing the complexity of interacting with different blockchains.
Telegram and MetaMask take different approaches to attract users to the Web3 world. They may not be direct competitors, but the key to the fight for universal access to Web3 is how they will keep users on their platforms.
To summarize
Telegram and MetaMask have their advantages and disadvantages both in their own specialized areas and in competition for users in the Web3 industry.
The advantages of Telegram are its huge user base and the rapid development of telegram bots. But it also has disadvantages. Projects based on Telegram bots are not always decentralized and may carry security risks. In addition, the social sphere of Telegram and the world of Web3 are currently developing in different directions.
MetaMask has the advantages of precisely targeting a specific audience, creating a gateway for deposits and withdrawals, and extending functionality with Snaps. The disadvantages of MetaMask are limited sources of attracting new users and low integration with other products.
Ultimately, the Web3 industry is more interested in attracting new users than determining the winner in a particular competition between Telegram and MetaMask.
