MoonPay's AI agents check out of desktop, check into Telegram 🏨

MoonPay is extending its MoonAgents AI crypto assistant to Telegram, letting users trade, analyze markets, and monitor blockchain activity through the messaging platform, the company announced on Thursday. The integration builds on the MoonAgents desktop app launched earlier this week, which connects Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex to crypto wallets, token swaps, prediction markets, and other blockchain services through a visual interface.

Kevin Arifin, MoonPay Agents Product Lead, told Decrypt that the desktop app is tied to a user's computer, while the Telegram version is designed for mobility. "The desktop app is tied to your computer, but sometimes you want to make trades on the go or do analysis when you're out for a walk," Arifin said. "The Telegram integration is the gateway to do that."

To set up the service, users create a custom bot through BotFather and connect it to the MoonAgents desktop app. Similar to OpenClaw and Hermes Agent, MoonAgents uses Telegram as an interface for users to interact with an AI agent. Arifin said Telegram was chosen primarily for its bot-creation infrastructure rather than the platform's popularity among crypto users. "They provide a really great interface for creating a new bot," he said, noting that other messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and iMessage introduce more friction.

Arifin credited OpenClaw with reshaping expectations for how large language models can interact with users' computers. "I think OpenClaw really redefined what the experience for LLMs could look like, especially with LLMs that can access your computer," Arifin said. He emphasized that the MoonAgents desktop app keeps all conversations stored locally, meaning users are not locked into Telegram. "Even if Telegram shuts down tomorrow and you can't take your agent on the go anymore, all your conversations still exist on your computer," Arifin said. (Disclosure: MoonPay Ventures is an investor in Dastan, Decrypt's parent company.)