TapSwap is a Telegram tap-to-earn game launched on The Open Network (TON), with over 60 million users playing the game as of July 2024.

The game’s Telegram channel has already become the second-largest in existence (behind only Hamster Kombat), with over twice the members of Notcoin’s official announcements channel.

While the basic premise is familiar, TapSwap offers another way for Telegram gamers to potentially earn some crypto while playing, following TapSwap's announcement that it will be launching a token on TON.

How to play TapSwap

At its core, TapSwap has the same basic premise as Notcoin. You’ll load up the game via a Telegram mini app on iOS or Android, and play within the messaging platform. From there, you’ll tap a gold coin at the center of the screen to earn points, but you can only tap for as long as your “Energy” bar permits—and then you’ll have to wait for it to refill.

Screenshots from TapSwap. Image: Decrypt

Players can also complete special tasks to earn bonus points. Some examples include joining TapSwap’s community on social media or registering for a Binance exchange account (KYC and all).

Players can also earn bonus points by referring friends, not only with an initial burst of coins but also additional coins based on their in-game activity.

Finally, there are boosts. Players can use boosts to augment their tapping abilities and earn even more coins. Each day, you get three free “Tapping Guru” and “Full Tank” boosters. Tapping Guru boosts earn you more points per tap, while Full Tank fills up your energy bar so you can get back to tapping.

Screenshots from TapSwap. Image: Decrypt

Besides the free daily boosters, you can also purchase premium boosts with your earned coins. These include Multitap, which increases the amount of coins earned for each tap going forward; Energy Limit, which permanently increases your energy bar’s limit; and Recharging Speed, which increases the rate at which your energy bar refills,

Lastly, there’s a Tap Bot. The Tap Bot will continue to earn you points passively when you’re not playing the game, as long as you stop by every 12 hours to claim your haul.

When is TapSwap's airdrop?

TapSwap has confirmed that an airdrop will occur—in fact, the welcome screen reads, “The majority of TapSwap Tokens (TAPS) distribution will occur among the players here.”

At launch, TapSwap offered a Solana wallet integration, but subsequently announced that it would release its token on TON—whcih comes as no surprise given the success of TON-based titles such as Notcoin and Hamster Kombat.

In early May 2024, the TapSwap team announced the impending launch of TapSwap Pools, with an expected launch date of May 30—but subseqently announced that due to an influx of bots attempting to farm airdrop points, the launch would be delayed the launch until July 1.

That date came and went, with TapSwap announcing that it was taking more time to shape the tokenomics amid conversations with "tier 1 exchanges" about the token launch. As a result, the airdrop launch target is now sometime in Q3 2024, which lasts through the end of September.

"This is all to ensure that our launch in Q3 is fair and, more importantly, profitable for all of you who stand by us no matter what," TapSwap tweeted.

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