Telegram Ads: Paying Ad Campaigns with TON

Telegram Ad Platform is the messenger’s official advertising service, launched in 2021. Originally it was open only to large advertisers with a €2 million minimum budget, which excluded 99% of the market. In 2024 Telegram dropped the threshold sharply and added TON as a payment method. That turned the platform into a real channel for mid-size businesses and crypto projects.

This guide explains how the service is structured, why TON payments matter, what moderation rules apply, how channel owners earn from impressions, and why Telegram Ads is not a replacement for classic crypto ad networks like Coinzilla.

What Telegram Ad Platform is

It is the official ad-placement system in public Telegram channels. Key properties:

• Only in channels above an audience threshold — ads appear under posts in channels with subscriber counts above a value described in Telegram policy.
• Format: short text message (up to 160 characters) plus a link to a Telegram channel, bot, or mini app. External links (to non-Telegram sites) are technically possible but with restrictions.
• Sponsored Messages — the only official ad format inside Telegram. Third parties cannot sell “native” integrations through this system.
• Targeting — by channel language, topic, geography (country/region level).

Direct deals with channel owners (buying a post from the admin) are a separate pre-existing market that Telegram Ads complements rather than replaces.

Why TON payments were added

Since 2024 Telegram accepts campaign payments in three currencies:

1. EUR — bank transfer or card (with regional limits).
2. USDT (via exchange integration).
3. TON — natively through TON Connect.

Why three options:

• TON — for crypto-native advertisers, TON-project owners, regions with banking restrictions.
• USDT — stable alternative for advertisers avoiding TON volatility.
• EUR — for classic businesses.

TON acceptance makes Telegram Ads the first among major ad systems to officially accept crypto as payment. A TON wallet owner can fund a campaign directly from the app, no bank, no fiat off-ramp.

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Context. Most large platforms (Google Ads, Meta) accept only fiat through banking systems. Coinzilla, A-Ads, and similar crypto-only networks have small audiences. Telegram Ads is the first mass-market platform with direct crypto payments.

How to set up a campaign

1. Go to promote.telegram.org or open the Ads section in your Telegram account.
2. Register as an advertiser — fill in company details and answer moderation prompts.
3. Top up the balance — pick TON, USDT, or EUR. With TON, TON Connect opens — link your wallet and send the amount.
4. Create the campaign — text up to 160 characters, destination link (channel / bot / mini app), targeting (language + topic + region).
5. Submit for moderation — your creative is reviewed against the policy (no scams, hate speech, regulator-sensitive content).
6. Launch — the campaign starts serving in eligible channels.

What ads cost

Pricing follows a CPM model (cost per thousand impressions). Exact rates depend on channel topic, language, country. High-competition segments (finance, crypto, EU countries) are pricier. Low-competition segments (entertainment, CIS non-RU) are noticeably cheaper.

Minimum top-up dropped from €2M in 2021 to hundreds of euros in 2024–2026 (check the exact value on promote.telegram.org per Telegram policy). That opened the platform to small businesses and crypto startups.

Revenue share for channels

Telegram launched a program that pays channel owners a share of revenue from ads under their posts. The share rate per Telegram policy is around half, but check the current state of the program directly.

What matters:

• Payouts are in Stars, not directly in TON.
• Stars can convert to TON via Fragment (see the dedicated guide).
• Channels must meet criteria: audience size, clean history, basic verification.
• Channels do not pick which ad runs under their posts — Telegram’s algorithm matches by topic.

For active channels with hundreds of thousands of subscribers, this becomes meaningful monthly income without selling ads manually.

Compared to other crypto ad networks

Telegram Ads is “quality mass platform with strict moderation.” Coinzilla / A-Ads are “niche crypto networks with more flexibility but riskier audiences.”

What you can and cannot advertise

Banned by Telegram policy:

• Scams, ponzi, get-rich-quick schemes.
• Unregistered ICO/IDO without risk disclosure.
• Hate speech, discrimination.
• Adult content, gambling without local license.
• Promotion of assets banned in the showing country (derivatives in non-allowing jurisdictions).

Allowed with care:

• Crypto projects with honest risk descriptions.
• Token launches with clear speculative-nature disclaimers.
• DeFi products subject to local regulatory compliance.

Moderation is part manual, part automated. Rejections are firm; appeals are possible but slow.

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Risk upfront. If your creative is rejected, the deposit is not refunded until you close the advertiser account. Test with small amounts before pouring in a big budget.

When Telegram Ads makes sense for TON projects

Good cases:

1. Mini app games — target crypto and gaming channels, drive traffic to your mini app.
2. DEX and DeFi products — advertise a specific use case (swaps, staking) rather than general “investment.”
3. NFT collections — mint announcements in crypto channels.
4. Education projects — promoting channels with TON content.

Bad cases:

1. Anonymous shitcoin — moderation will reject, you waste time.
2. Narrow B2B developer products — Telegram channels are not the right audience.
3. Regional services in sanctioned jurisdictions — may fail compliance.

Practical copy tips

The 160-character limit is strict. What works:

• Strong hook in the first line. “Earn TON in five minutes” beats “Learn about a new DeFi project.”
• Concrete value. “Staking 12% APY on TON” outperforms “Best staking.”
• Direct call to action. “Subscribe” / “Open bot” / “Try the mini app.”
• No emoji spam. One or two emojis are fine; more reduces CTR scoring in moderation.

A/B testing: launch two or three creative variants on small budgets, pick the winner by CTR, scale it up.

Connection to the TON ecosystem

Several important overlaps:

• TON payments — direct use case for holders.
• Revenue share in Stars — a stimulus for channels with TON audiences.
• Promoting TON projects — noticeably cheaper and better-targeted in niche channels than in Google Ads.
• Mini app traffic — the main growth channel for in-Telegram products.

Taken together, Telegram Ads is the infrastructure through which a TON project can scale marketing without leaving the Telegram stack.

Conclusion

Telegram Ad Platform with TON acceptance is a unique opportunity among major platforms to convert crypto directly into marketing impressions. Low minimum budget, precise topical targeting, strict anti-scam moderation, revenue share for channels — all of this makes it a real mass platform rather than a crypto niche.

For TON projects it is the most direct channel for new-audience acquisition. For TON holders it is another useful utility for the token. For channels with topical audiences it is a passive Stars income with TON conversion available.

Downsides: strict moderation (some projects will not pass), pricing in premium segments rivals Google Ads, deep analytics on par with Meta is absent. But as the first paid-impressions stack for a TON project, it is the best choice in 2026.

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