The Identity Backbone of the Telegram Mini-App Ecosystem
Galactica.com’s background and mission:
Galactica.com is building the stack for a sovereign Telegram Passport.
We’ve introduced the concept of the Identity Virtual Machine (IVM), which is designed to position actionable identity as a core primitive powering dApps across the Web3 ecosystem. Our mission is to leverage the identity stack we’ve spent years developing to create an omnichannel IVM with a Telegram interface and a Telegram-native user experience to enable sovereign yet actionable user identity that allows users to create and monetize their digital identities.
People need sovereign identities and Telegram is, by a wide margin, the best path to mass adoption.
Problem
Thanks to the vast reach of the Telegram platform, Telegram Mini Apps (TMAs) have quickly become a popular platform for Web3 applications and decentralized services. And yet, TMAs are plagued with bots and are susceptible to Sybil attacks. This adversely affects the economics of all incentive protocols - airdrops, points farming, etc.
There is also an issue of differentiating between users - some are worth more than others, but it’s not evident from the faceless telegram handles.
Most TMAs rely on basic identifiers such as a Telegram user handle and a TON wallet address, supplemented by internal databases tracking TMA-specific user activity. While this setup allows users to be monetized as paying customers –for instance, through token sales or subscriptions –it falls short of accurately valuing user data and behavior. The result is a system where user flow and data are not properly priced, leading to inefficiencies in user engagement and distortions in overall incentive structure.
Solution
The Galactica.com identity stack is perfectly positioned to become the core identity management protocol for the Telegram mini-app ecosystem. The telegram passport.
Galactica.com's IVM (Identity Virtual Machine) is designed to integrate with Telegram Cloud and Telegram’s TMA platform. Leveraging the latest advances in applied cryptography, such as zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), we provide a safe way for people to create and attest to their identities. This protects user privacy and ensures smooth verification, turning into a powerful tool in managing digital identities across a decentralized landscape.
Galactica’s Interoperable User Passport
For the last 3 years, Galactica.com has been working on a breakthrough in user data management with its private user passport powered by ZK and FHE technologies. Our solution integrates directly with Telegram, allowing users to upload and verify their data, which can then be selectively disclosed to TMAs or smart contracts (TON and other networks supported) based on the user’s preferences.
Types of data that can be included in the passport:
KYC (Know Your Customer) information for identity verification;
Proofs of social activities (e.g. Twitter/X engagement);
App activity data, such as trading history from platforms like Binance;
Gaming skills and other verifiable data points, and
Virtually any other data that a user has generated on the web.
Galactica.com Telegram passport will provide an interoperable way for advertisers, airdrop campaigns, decentralized apps (dApps), and user-centric applications to precisely target users and use their data without ever accessing it. By leveraging verified data, campaigns can reach authentic users, reducing the risk of bot-driven fraud and making incentive programs more cost-efficient.
Extending Composability with FHE
A key extension of Galactica’s system is the use of Fully Homomorphic Encryption. This cutting-edge cryptography allows users to store highly sensitive data—such as income records, medical information, or other personal data—while keeping it fully encrypted. FHE enables the computation of functions over this encrypted data without revealing the underlying information. This opens up new possibilities for programmable reputation functions that compute over user data without ever having access to it.
It is FHE that turns a private user passport into an Identity Virtual Machine, an internet computer with Humans as nodes, that enables programmable logic for encrypted personal data.
Galactica’s Current Stack and Future with Telegram
At present, Galactica’s solution is implemented for the web using MetaMask Snaps, allowing users to interact with decentralized identity systems and zero-knowledge KYC protocols. For developers and businesses, Galactica.com provides a range of tools and integrations that make it easier to build privacy-preserving, user-centric applications.
Galactica’s documentation offers detailed insights into these protocols, while code examples are available on our GitHub repository.
The next logical step for Galactica is to build a Telegram-native implementation. This would replace MetaMask Snaps with Telegram Cloud for data storage, while adding TON Connect as a Web3 interface. This integration would streamline the user experience, making Galactica’s solution native to the Telegram ecosystem and unlocking new potential for dApps and user-centric campaigns.
More on the implementation can be found here and here.
Overview of Key Milestones Achieved
Demo of SwissBorg integration with Galactica's on-chain KYC (TestNet):
Galactica's ZK KYC Technical Specification:
Galactica's Developer Documentation:
https://docs.galactica.com/galactica-developer-documentation
Genesis Validators Onboard:
https://explorer-pingpub-reticulum.galactica.com/galactica-reticulum/staking
Integrations (certain ongoing) with Data Guardians:
Governance Details: https://galactica.com/news/proto-governance-model
The Latest Reputation Module Design: https://galactica.com/news/Part-III:Reputation-System-Technical-Design
Reputation & UBI: https://galactica.com/news/SBTs-and-Reputation-in-Galactica
References
Telegram Cloud Storage: https://core.telegram.org/bots/webapps#cloudstorage
Zama's Whitepaper: https://whitepaper.zama.ai/