PAWS Founder on Moving 85M Telegram Users to Solana and Web3 Gaming’s Future Challenges

• PAWS has drawn over 85 million users since launching in late 2024.
• Telegram’s TON exclusivity prompted PAWS to expand beyond its original home.
• The platform has now successfully transitioned to Solana.

After a record-breaking debut on Telegram’s mini app ecosystem, PAWS is evolving fast. 

What started as a simple achievement-tracking app has turned into one of the fastest-growing Web3 gaming projects.

Now, with its token-generation event (TGE) wrapped and its user base fully migrated to Solana, PAWS is eyeing its next chapter.

CCN spoke with PAWS co-founder Subohn to dig into what’s next for the platform, why it left Telegram, and how it plans to navigate the tricky landscape of play-to-earn (P2E) gaming and tokenized rewards.

A Viral Beginning

Launched during the Telegram Mini App boom alongside names like Hamster Kombat and Catizen, PAWS quickly stood out, not as a game, but as an infrastructure layer for games and apps.

“By leveraging the already substantial communities of existing projects, we were able to quickly generate interest in PAWS,” Subohn explained.

That interest turned into explosive growth. Within days, PAWS passed ten million users. By the end of the first month, it had more than quadrupled that number.

“This rapid growth was both exhilarating and challenging,” they shared, noting the strong appetite for tools that made sense of the rapidly evolving Web3 space.

Subohn described PAWS as “the TikTok of the crypto space.” PAWS tapped into the attention economy, rewarding users for engagement across ecosystems and becoming a central pillar in Telegram’s Web3 ambitions.

But that relationship came to a halt in late 2024.

Why PAWS Left Telegram

Telegram introduced a new rule that forced all mini apps to run exclusively on The Open Network (TON).

Additionally, with low liquidity and limited on-chain traders in TON, PAWS had already planned to expand to Solana, where on-chain activity was more robust.

“Unfortunately, our strategy didn’t align with Telegram’s values,” said Subohn. “We decided we wanted more for our community than just waiting for the situation in TON to improve.”

Despite technical hurdles—including wallet integrations and building awareness in a new ecosystem—PAWS made the move.

Subohn shared that attracting the Solana community to their project was a major challenge.

However, with help from Phantom Wallet and key Solana partners, the platform successfully migrated its tens of millions of users. Today, PAWS claims over 9 million downloads via Phantom alone.

With its Solana migration proving to be a resounding success, the PAWS co-founder envisions growth beyond the network, though details remain under wraps until the team is ready for an official announcement.

“Our project is geared toward expansion beyond the Solana network. Once our token is launched, we anticipate becoming the largest token in terms of the number of holders,” the co-founder asserted.

Rethinking Play-to-Earn

Hamster Kombat pulled well over 300 million users to its simple tap-to-earn game loop, but its TGE and controversial airdrop were a sobering moment for the community, who were sure their time would be fairly rewarded. This was far from the case.

However, Subohn doesn’t believe that it was inherently a failure. No Web3 app had ever reached that many users. Therefore, pulling off an airdrop to hundreds of millions of users and “ensuring satisfaction for all would require an immense amount of resources.”

The rapid rise and fall of Hamster Kombat’s player count certainly serves as a warning for any budding Web3 game promising crypto in return for players’ time, the warning being that P2E may be unsustainable.

However, Subohn doesn’t see P2E as doomed—just misunderstood.

“The real issue arises when the play-to-earn mechanics become the core product themselves,” he explained, suggesting that games must prioritize being fun and “stay true to their nature”—P2E should support the experience, not define it.

Subohn sees P2E evolving into more of a strategic user acquisition tool, applicable to both Web2 and Web3 products.

While competitors like Catizen have experimented with side games and multiple airdrops, PAWS is aiming for long-term community value.

“Future airdrops will target both our loyal users and new users from other blockchains we partner with,” Subohn said. “We believe this strategy will foster a thriving and sustainable ecosystem.”

With more expansions planned and a massive user base already onboard, PAWS is positioning itself as a foundational layer for the next phase of Web3 growth.

Airdrop Hiccups

Still, it hasn’t been smooth sailing.

Just after its April 16 TGE, Bybit announced that users in the European Economic Area were ineligible due to MiCA regulations. That forced PAWS to revisit its distribution plan and rework eligibility.

The team says additional airdrop rounds are coming, though exact details haven’t been shared yet.