Telegram Bots:

Exploring the LandscapeAugust 2023

Jie Xuan Chua, CFA

Table of Contents
Key Takeaways

2

Overview

3

Ecosystem and Features

4

Telegram Bots Landscape5

Adoption and Activity

6

Protocol Revenue

9

Outlook and Risks

11

Closing Thoughts

13

References

14

New Binance Research Reports

15

About Binance Research

16

Resources

17

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape1Key Takeaways◆ Telegram bots have gained signiﬁcant attention in recent weeks as surging token
prices and coverage by the media and key opinion leaders drive interest to thespace.

◆ By offering users a range of functions such as trading, sniping, airdrop farming,and others, Telegram bots enable crypto users to execute crypto activities easily
via their mobile devices in a user-friendly manner.

◆ The cumulative lifetime volume of trades facilitated on Telegram bots has

exceeded US$190M, with a record high of US$10M in daily trading volume
recorded on July 23, 2023.

◆ The revenue model of Telegram bots involves charging users a transaction fee

and, in some cases, a purchase or sales “tax” for transactions involving a bot’s
native token. Total revenue captured by Telegram bots has surpassed
US$28.7M.

◆ It is too early to gauge organic demand, as much of the current activity has been
driven by skyrocketing token prices. Nonetheless, we will likely see continued
developments, at least in the near future, as projects compete for market share.

◆ Users should conduct their own due diligence before interacting with any
Telegram bot. This report does not constitute an endorsement or
recommendation of Telegram bots by Binance Research.

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape2Overview
With surging token prices and considerable discussion on Crypto Twitter (or rather, “X”),
Telegram bots have emerged as a new narrative among the crypto community. By allowing
users to execute a range of functions as easily as sending messages on Telegram, thesebots have introduced a user-friendly alternative to existing decentralized ﬁnance (“DeFi”)
front-end applications.
Figure 1: Screenshots of user interfaces for Telegram bots

Source: Telegram Bots’ Websites

How it generally works◆ Step 1: Users enter a command in the channel of the Telegram bot.
◆ Step 2: A main menu is generated in which users can choose to set up a new walletor connect an existing wallet.

◆ Step 3: Once the wallet is set up, users can fund the wallet with the addressprovided.

◆ Step 4: Users are prompted with an additional menu in which they can execute
different types of transactions.

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape3Ecosystem and Features
Common features include:◆ Trading: Buy and sell tokens directly through Telegram.
◆ Sniping: Automatically buy a token when it’s listed.
◆ Copy trading: Emulate the trades of other traders.
◆ Airdrop farming: Automatically execute a series of actions to help increase chances◆of receiving airdrops.
Others: Bots could provide other features, such as analytics or a wallet tracker.

Figure 2: Examples of Telegram bots and features offered

Trading

Sniping

Copy
Trading

Unibot✔

✔

✔

Maestro✔

✔

✔

Airdrop
Farming

Others✔

MEVFree✔

ChainGPT✔

Wagiebot

✔

✔

✔

✔

Collab.Land✔

LootBot

✔

Mizar

✔

✔
✔

✔

✔

JDB

✔

Uniwhales✔

Source: Telegram Bots’ Websites, Binance Research

Note that the mention of speciﬁc projects does not constitute an endorsement or
recommendation by Binance, and users should conduct thorough due diligence.

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape4Telegram Bots LandscapeWith the proliferation of Telegram bots, crypto users have access to an alternative medium
to execute crypto activities via their mobile devices. This may appeal to non-sophisticated
DeFi users, where existing front ends are generally more clunky and could require more
steps.
Additionally, proponents of Telegram bots argue that they could potentially usher in newusers to crypto by increasing accessibility and ease of use. Today, Telegram reportedly has
over 800M monthly active users, representing a huge market for the potential expansion of
crypto.
Figure 3: Telegram has 800 million monthly active users

Source: Statista, Telegram

Interest in Telegram bots has also surged in recent weeks, propelled by soaring token
prices and coverage by the media and key opinion leaders. As of the time of writing, themarket capitalization of bot-related tokens is over US$150M, with numerous tokens having
experienced multifold growth in a short period of time(1).
A key contributor has been the UNIBOT token, which represents more than 77% of themarket based on market capitalization. Using Unibot as a proxy for the sector, interest, as
represented by Google search interest, has also risen signiﬁcantly.

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape5Figure 4: The UNIBOT token has the largest share by market capitalization

Source: Coinmarketcap, Coingecko, Binance Research, as of Aug 2, 2023

Figure 5: Google search interest for Unibot spiked in the latter part of July

Source: Google, as of Aug 1, 2023

Adoption and Activity
User metrics of Telegram bots hit a record high in July, with over 6,000 daily unique users.
As one of the pioneers in the space, Maestro holds the lead with around 2-3K daily active
users. Unibot is catching up and has narrowed the gap signiﬁcantly in recent weeks; daily
active users have more than quadrupled from around 400 to a high of 1.7K within a span of
two weeks in July.

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape6Figure 6: Number of daily active users exceeded 6K at its peak

Source: Dune Analytics (@whale_hunter), Binance Research, as of Aug 2, 2023
“Others” include Bolt, Ready Swap, and Swipe

Figure 7: Maestro and Unibot have the greatest share of users

Source: Dune Analytics (@whale_hunter), Binance Research, as of Aug 2, 2023
“Others” include Alphaman, Bolt, Ready Swap, Swipe, and WagieBot

Overall, adoption of Telegram bots has picked up as users test out the features they offer.
Daily trading volume on bots reached a record high and exceeded US$10M on July 23,
2023. The cumulative lifetime trading volume has also surpassed US$190M. Note that theactual volume is likely higher, as not all data is readily available.

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape7

Figure 8: Daily trading volume on Telegram bots exceeded US$10M in late July

Source: Dune Analytics (@whale_hunter), Binance Research, as of Aug 2, 2023
Coverage: Alphaman, Banana Gun, Ready Swap, and Unibot

The trading activity of tokens has the ability to influence community engagement,
especially for new narratives. Rising token prices and volumes attract eyeballs anddiscussions, and vice versa. While still elevated, we have noticed that the slowdown intrading volume of the bots’ native tokens in recent days (Figure 9) has coincided with thegeneral decline in bot users and bot volumes, as shown in Figures 6 and 8, respectively.
Figure 9: Token volumes of Telegram bots on DEXes

Source: Dune Analytics (@tk-research), Binance Research, as of Aug 2, 2023
Coverage: 0XS, ALFA, ALLIN, BOLT, BS, COlLAB, DUNG, FIRE, FRENS, GENIE, LOOT, MOETA, NEOBOT, TKB,UNIBOT, WAGIEBOT

Regardless, considering the nascency of the sector and the volatility associated with new
narratives, it is too early to tell if recent data points suggest a trend reversal or merely
represent a blip before activity rallies again.

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape8Protocol Revenue
Notably, Telegram bots have been effective in translating adoption into revenue for theirrespective protocols. This is generally achieved by charging users a fee for transactions
executed through the bot. Another slightly controversial fee model employed by some is tocharge a purchase or sales “tax” for every buy or sell transaction involving a bot’s native
token.
Figure 10: Common revenue streams include trading fee and purchase or sales tax

In total, Telegram bots have collected over 15.5K ETH (around US$28.7M) in lifetime
revenue, based on publicly available sources.
Figure 11: Telegram bots have collected more than 15.5K ETH in revenue

Source: Dune Analytics (@whale_hunter), Binance Research, as of Aug 2, 2023
Coverage: Alphaman, ASAP, Banana Gun, Bolt, Maestro, Ready Swap, Scarab, Swipe, Unibot, WagieBot

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape9It is worth highlighting that not all revenue pertains to actual trading revenue collected by
the bots. For instance, Unibot has collected a total of 4.3K ETH (around US$8.0M), of whicharound 86% pertains to purchase or sales tax rather than trading revenue(2).
Maestro currently leads the pack in terms of cumulative revenue collected, given that it isthe ﬁrst mover in the space (having launched in July 2022). Additionally, its relatively highdaily active user count of around 2-3K has allowed Maestro to rake in consistent trading
revenue. The trading revenue is derived from a 1% transaction fee charged by Maestro forevery successful buy or sell order through the app.
Figure 12: Maestro leads the pack in terms of collected revenue

Source: Dune Analytics (@whale_hunter), Binance Research, as of Jul 30, 2023

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape10Outlook and Risks
The rise of Telegram bots has introduced an alternative medium for crypto trading. By
offering a smoother user experience and increased accessibility compared to DeFi front
ends, Telegram bots could potentially carve out a niche in the crypto ecosystem for acertain set of users.
At the current stage, it is still too early to gauge organic demand given that much of thecurrent activity has been propped up by skyrocketing token prices. Nonetheless, the space
has deﬁnitely heated up, and we will likely see further developments as bots compete formarket share.
Examples of ongoing and potential developments◆ Expansion to other mediums: Numerous bots have expanded beyond Telegram toother mediums such as Discord. This enables them to reach a greater number ofusers and provides another venue to execute transactions.

◆ Increase product suite: While some bots may choose to specialize in a single ﬁeld

(e.g., Sniping), our guess is that more will try to develop new features to cover moreground and position themselves as a one-stop shop. Users need to only go to one
bot to execute a myriad of different transactions.

◆ Multi-chain expansions: We have observed bots going multi-chain beyond just the
Ethereum blockchain. This enables them to provide users with the ability to tradeacross different blockchains.

◆ Price competition: Fees for most Telegram bots are currently not the cheapest.

When the sector matures and numerous established players compete with minimal
product differentiation, lower fees could be used as a way to attract users.

Risks
It is important to recognize that interacting with Telegram bots is not without risks.
Considering the nascency of the sector, it is absolutely essential for users to be aware ofthem and to conduct thorough due diligence before interacting with a bot. Examples ofrisks include:◆ Security of assets: Bots have different setups but generally allow users to either

create a dedicated wallet or connect an existing wallet. In both cases, the bots will
have access to the private keys, which could be a risk. As the old adage goes, “notyour keys, not your crypto.”

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape11◆ Smart contract risks: Considering how bots operate, interaction with smart

contracts is inevitable. While not foolproof, projects that have undergone rigorous
audits would allow developers to identify and resolve critical issues.

Given the above-mentioned examples of risks, bots may not be suitable for everyone.
Nonetheless, users may be able to mitigate risks by (1) trading in smaller sizes; (2) keeping
minimal funds on the wallet; and (3) creating a new wallet instead of using your main walletto interact with bots. These risk mitigation techniques are only examples - they should not
be relied on as ﬁnancial advice. Users interacting with bots should conduct their own
research and due diligence.

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape12Closing Thoughts
Telegram bots have seen surging interest and usage in recent weeks. By offering users a
relatively seamless way to execute transactions, bots have the potential to carve out theirown niche in the crypto ecosystem. Alongside increasing adoption, Telegram bots have also
been effective in accruing revenue, leading to discussions about them providing a real yield
to token holders.
Nonetheless, it is important to understand that not all bots are the same; a large proportionof revenue generated by some bots may be from sales or purchase tax on their native token
transactions rather than bot trading revenue. As such, consistent revenue growth for thesebots is predicated on the continued strong trading activity of their native tokens.
At the current stage, it is too early to tell if Telegram bots will be able to sustain users’interest, but ongoing developments by projects are a welcome initiative. We would be keen
to watch how the space develops going forward, especially in mitigating some of the risks
involved with bots and innovating helpful new features for users.

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape13References
1. https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories/telegram-bots
2. https://dune.com/whale_hunter/unibot-revenue

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape14New Binance Research Reports

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marketA compilation of key charts andinsights on the market

Real-World Assets: State of theMarketHalf-Year Report 2023

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marketA crypto-centric review of the ﬁrst halfof 2023

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape15About Binance Research
Binance Research is the research arm of Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency
exchange. The team is committed to delivering objective, independent, and comprehensive
analysis and aims to be the thought leader in the crypto space. Our analysts publish
insightful thought pieces regularly on topics related but not limited to the crypto
ecosystem, blockchain technologies, and the latest market themes.

Jie Xuan Chua, CFA
Macro Researcher
Jie Xuan (“JX”) is currently working for Binance as a
Macro Researcher. Prior to joining Binance, he worked
as a Global Investment Specialist with J.P. Morgan andhad prior Equity Research experience at various fundhouses. JX is a CFA charterholder. He has been
involved in the cryptocurrency space since 2017.

Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape16

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Telegram Bots: Exploring the Landscape17