Privacy-Centric Gaming on Telegram: Inco’s Partnership with Privy
In an exciting development for privacy-aware gamers, Inco has teamed up with Privy to bring a new dimension to gaming on Telegram, a platform already renowned for its commitment to user privacy. This collaboration ushers in a wave of games that not only entertain but also safeguard user confidentiality.
Understanding the vast reach of Telegram, which boasts a user base of 900 million monthly active users, Inco is setting the stage for crypto app developers to easily draw users into secure, on-chain product development. These products will take the form of Telegram Mini Apps, with a focus on games, capitalizing on the social media giant’s popularity in regions such as Russia and India, as well as amongst the crypto community.
Telegram Mini Apps offer users a familiar in-app browser experience directly from their chat conversations, simply by engaging with an app’s Telegram handle. Remi Gai, CEO of Inco, sees significant potential in this space for social gaming, particularly browser-based games, which could thrive on this platform in the near future.
Gai envisions a new trend where decentralized apps integrate seamlessly within Telegram, propelling the Web3 industry forward. The ease of access and scalability of these apps could herald a new era for decentralized applications. Partnering with Privy, Inco aims to inject more excitement into on-chain games by enhancing them with elements of confidentiality and randomness.
Telegram Mini Apps, which can be crafted using web development staples such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript/React, also benefit from the automation capabilities of Telegram bots. These apps and games are not only easily accessible to users but also offer a heightened level of interaction and notification through the bots.
Despite its modest team size of 10 people, Inco has made strides in the industry, raising .5 million last year. While the company itself may not be developing games, it is laying the groundwork for others to create engaging crypto games.
For Inco, the aim is not to produce hit games but to showcase the possibilities, enticing game developers to innovate within the platform. Gai also anticipates that developers will take advantage of Telegram Mini Apps for mobile game development, eliminating the need for app downloads and allowing for instant sharing through simple links.
Inco, powered by Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), is an EVM that permits developers to build decentralized apps and mini-games that interact with wallet providers while maintaining user confidentiality. It is a game-changer for creating on-chain experiences, such as slot machines, card games, and prediction markets, that are both secure and private.
With the integration of Privy SDK, developers can now offer self-custodial wallets to users, enhancing the security of on-chain experiences that are accessible directly from Telegram.
The partnership between Inco and Privy has already yielded early examples like Slot Machine and Hangman games, both leveraging FHE for on-chain confidentiality and randomness. These games are not only a showcase of the partnership’s potential but an open invitation for developers to use Inco’s open-source repository for crafting their own Telegram-based dApp experiences.
Max Segall, COO at Privy, emphasizes the importance of meeting users in their preferred spaces, such as Telegram, and the partnership enables just that for developers looking to dive into web3 product creation.
Gai, who has been deeply involved in blockchain since 2017, is fascinated by the possibilities of zero-knowledge proofs and fully homomorphic encryption. He sees FHE as a transformative technology that allows for operations on encrypted data without revealing its contents, a concept he likens to ‘magical cryptography’.
This technology is particularly pertinent to blockchain, where public transparency is a double-edged sword. Inco’s implementation of FHE enables confidential computing, paving the way for games that incorporate hidden roles or strategies without compromising them on the blockchain.
The collaboration between Inco and Privy is not just about gaming; it’s a testament to the possibilities of integrating cutting-edge encryption technologies into everyday applications, making our digital interactions more secure and private.