TG's in-house trading platform Blum receives investment from Binance, TG's mini-games enter 2.0 phase

Jessy, Golden Finance

On September 11, Blum, a multi-chain hybrid trading platform on TON, received investment from Binance Labs. The project was founded by former Binance executives and launched in March 2024. According to the official statistics of the project, it has accumulated 60 million users in just six months. The biggest difference from other DEXs on the chain and traditional CEX is that Blum's product form is a Mini APP built into Telegram (there is also a mobile APP form, which has not yet been launched). It supports token transactions on more than 30 blockchains, as well as derivatives trading and other functions.

At present, its trading products have not yet been truly launched, and users can only play small games and earn points on the platform. And it is this simple operation mode that has accumulated nearly 60 million users. In comparison, Binance has more than 200 million users and Bitget has 30 million users. Blum has accumulated a large number of users through TG games, and its appearance also represents that the product ecology within TG has advanced from the simple and crude "click-click" mode to the 2.0 development stage of "more useful for Web3".

The game part is quite satisfactory, and the innovative products are in trading

 Currently, Blum has not launched the trading function, and the current products are not much different from the popular games on TG.

Users can get points by signing in, completing some tasks on the platform (such as following a designated X account, browsing designated videos, playing designated games, etc.), and inviting friends. After signing in every day, you can click the automatic earning function to automatically earn points. （Project link: https://t.me/blum/app?startapp=ref_6j4rbLf4Mn）

The interface for earning points in Blum

Blum also attaches great importance to community building and attracting Generation Z users. It launched the "Tribes" function, that is, users can build their own "tribes", form their own teams, and earn points together.

Compared with those small game projects on Telegram that have successfully broken the circle and captured tens of millions of users due to "clicks", Blum actually goes a step further than these game projects, using the form of small games to attract users. The game itself is not the purpose, but only a means to attract users to the platform in order to let them use the services of Blum's exchange.

In terms of how to earn points, Blum is not much different from other TG games. It is precisely through these forms that have been verified many times: simple and brainless games, social invitations, etc., that it has accumulated a large number of users.

It was also selected for the BNB Chain MVB (Most Valuable Builder) program. Of course, this may also be related to the fact that it was founded by former Binance executives Gleb Kostarev and Vladimir Smerkis. Kostarev is a former vice president of Binance and has served as Binance's head of Eastern Europe, CIS, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand, while Smerkis served as general manager of the CIS region.

Blum's main business (although it has not yet been launched) hybrid exchanges is not an innovative track. Compared with pure DEX and CEX, hybrid exchanges concentrate the advantages of both, such as having the performance and functions of centralized exchanges, while also having the characteristics of on-chain transparency and user self-custody, etc.

Blum also mentioned in its official introduction that one-stop transactions can be easily achieved within the product, whether it is meme tokens or emerging early tokens, especially those tokens that have not yet been listed on CEX. Blum has also simplified the transaction process of DEX.

From this point of view, relying on Telegram, a super traffic platform, Blum is born for Web2 users to enter Web3. It simplifies the transaction process of traditional DEX and CEX and lowers the threshold for newcomers to participate in cryptocurrency transactions.

In terms of product design, Blum is actually a relatively perfect closed loop. It attracts people to enter through simple forms such as mini-games, and then uses points reward airdrops, invites friends to reward points, and other methods to achieve fission-like dissemination of products, thereby accumulating a large number of users. According to official news, Blum currently has more than 60 million users.

Telegram Web3 Ecosystem Moves to the Next Stage

 Currently, all major CEXs are very interested in the traffic on Telegram. The tokens of various mini-games are basically launched at the same time on mainstream exchanges. Mini-games on TG can bring new people to exchanges, so exchanges are willing to cooperate with these mini-games. If you open any popular TG mini-game, you will find that whether it is a link wallet or a direct link to an exchange, it is full of several major exchanges and their Web3 wallets.

Take Cati, the token of Catizen, a mini-game launched on major exchanges on September 20, as an example. According to the detection of Ember, the circulation of Cati is 30.5% of the total tokens, and 17% of Cati has flowed to major exchanges. It can be seen that a successful TG mini-game can bring massive user traffic to the exchange.

Blum is a visionary. From games to exchanges, he has done it all. However, many small games with huge traffic are actually facing the dilemma of "users are attracted, then what?"

Notcoin, which was the first to go out of the circle, began to incubate games, and other small games helped exchanges to attract traffic, etc. These are all some efforts made by these simple and crude "dot-dot-dot" small games to iterate. However, these efforts can only make the game live longer. Traffic is one-time. After the exchange's business has been listed, it will be difficult to do it next.

If you want to live longer, the project itself must have core competitiveness. Blum's product design may become the next development direction of the mini program on Telegram. In games, points can be used to attract traffic, but the product itself must be able to meet people's needs, especially the needs of users in the Web3 industry. Take Blum for example. The transaction demand is definitely a rigid demand of Web3 users. By using the form of Telegram Mini Dapp, the transaction threshold is lowered and the user's use is more convenient. From the perspective of product conception, it can be regarded as an innovation of current transaction products.

Although there are still few TG mini-program products like Blum, we believe that the Bot or Mini APP on Telegram will be "more useful" for Web3 in the future.