【Special Feature】Telegram Complete Guide! Step-by-step instructions to create your own encrypted information channel

Do you have Telegram?

In fact, Telegram has been popular overseas for a long time and has always been one of the main communication tools for cryptocurrency enthusiasts. After the anti-extradition protests erupted in Hong Kong, Taiwanese users gradually noticed this app. Additionally, LINE began a new 2.0 subscription model in March, causing a significant increase in the cost of pushing messages. This led to a wave of users leaving Line@ official channels, including Tzu Chi Foundation, traditional media, new media, and even establishing official channels on Telegram. Even President Tsai Ing-wen officially launched the"Taiwan Captain Tsai Ing-wen"official account on February 27.

Apart from switching to Telegram to reduce marketing costs, Telegram is also very suitable for creating groups. While LINE is busy positioning itself as a traffic entrance platform for the mobile internet era, Telegram continues to optimize its core communication software features as follows:

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• End-to-end "private chat": Chat messages are only between two devices, inaccessible to any third party and not stored in the Telegram cloud.
• Supports logging in and syncing data from multiple platforms: PC/Mac/Linux, iOS/Android, etc.
• Stores all historical data: Messages from channel and group creation to the present are all retrievable, even if the phone is lost.
• Group member limit of 200,000: Admins can be set up, and official channels have no member limit.
• "Unlimited" cloud storage: Single file transfer limit of up to 1.5 GB.

Although Telegram will not replace LINE's position for now and not all LINE@ channels are suitable for Telegram, many Telegram channels and groups on various topics continue to grow in Taiwan. In this era of information explosion, it is advisable to join channels and groups that align with personal interests and expertise on Telegram for precise management and efficient information absorption.

Since there are already many tutorials online about creating "channels" and "groups," this article will briefly introduce Telegram's official bot (GroupHelpBot), as well as some channels providing cryptocurrency information and comprehensive trading bots.

Origin of Telegram

Telegram was launched on August 14, 2013, for iOS, and on October 20 of the same year for Android. It was developed by Russian entrepreneurs Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai Durov (a renowned computer scientist). Operating without ads and completely free, Telegram relies mainly on Durov's own funds for its operation. Pavel Durov first founded the Russian social platform VKontakte in 2006, which still ranks second globally on Alexa, earning him the title of "Russian Mark Zuckerberg" (founder of Facebook).

After selling his 12% stake in VKontakte (approximately 10 billion New Taiwan Dollars), the Durov brothers jointly launched Telegram, a privacy-focused messaging app. By the following year, the app had reached 35 million daily active users, and by March 2018, the user base had exceeded 200 million.

Introduction of Telegram Bot

Telegram only requires a phone number to register, making the process quick and supporting various devices with fast synchronization and no need for logging in. One drawback is the lack of built-in Traditional Chinese support, but it can be enabled through an external program to switch from English to Traditional Chinese with one click:

There are also comprehensive beginner channels domestically, which compile major media Telegram channels, various functional bots, as well as groups related to food and travel.

Setting up GroupHelpBot

In larger LINE groups, there is a bot that welcomes new members upon joining. Similarly, Telegram groups can utilize the GroupHelpBot, which requires setting the bot as an administrator as the first step.

You can adjust the bot's permissions according to your needs and customize its title to give it a name suitable for the group's nature.

After this, entering "/settings@GroupHelpBot" will present two options, "Open in Private Chat" and "Open here," representing "setting up the bot in a personal chat" and "setting up directly in the group," respectively. Both methods can configure the bot, with the difference being that group settings allow chat room members to see the setup process.

Clicking "Open in Private Chat" or "tap here!" will move you to a one-on-one chat room with the bot, then click "Start."

Clicking "Welcome" will show the screen below. Turn on "On" and "Always send." "On" allows the bot to greet new members, while "Always send" delivers the welcome message regardless of how many times the new member joins the group. "1️⃣send 1 join" is limited to the new member's first entry. After setting, click "Set."

Customize how to address new members in the welcome message according to your needs, demonstrated here using {NAME}, then click "Back" in the dialogue box to return to the main settings page.

Enabling "Delete last welcome" ensures only the last welcome message remains in the chat room, automatically removing the previous welcome message when a new member joins. Next, click "Url Buttons" to start setting up buttons that redirect to websites in the welcome message.

Click "Set" to begin setting up. If you want the redirect buttons to appear side by side, enter "Name - URL || Name - URL." An example is:

FB - https://www.facebook.com/.io/ || LINE@ - https://page.line.me/

If there are more platforms to redirect to, press "Shift+Enter" to arrange them vertically, as shown in the image below.

Click "Back" to return to the main settings page, then close the bot settings by clicking "Close."

These are basic GroupHelpBot applications. For those interested, explore other functions such as muting, blacklisting, handling malicious users; prohibiting the addition of other bots to the group, blocking scams within the group, and more advanced features like adding Telegram's "BotFather", the mechanism for managing all bots on Telegram, essential for creating custom bots from scratch.

Origin of Telegram and Cryptocurrency

During the peak of the first Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2017, Telegram introduced the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain project called Gram before the ICO craze faded. Although TON did not raise funds through ICO due to regulatory factors, it still managed to raise nearly $1.7 billion in two private funding rounds, second only to the record-breaking $4 billion by EOS in history.

As previously mentioned, Telegram groups can accommodate up to 200,000 members, making Telegram a primary platform for cryptocurrency users focused on news and information. Its end-to-end encrypted communication (requiring manual setup for private chats) also appeals to geeks.

The following will introduce cryptocurrency bots and related channels. While individual functions may not match tools like TradingView, Coinmarketcap, Etherscan, etc., they offer valuable assistance for quickly obtaining coin prices, market trends, and overall insights as auxiliary tools for group discussions.

CryptoWhale

CryptoWhale is a quoting bot that can be added to groups, offering comprehensive features even without payment, including:

• Token price changes over 1H, 24H, 7D, trading volume, daily high and low
• Technical indicators, token information on support and resistance levels
• 1-hour chart, 1-minute chart of specified tokens
• TradingView chart of specified tokens
• Long vs. short ratio on Bitfinex
• Top gainers and losers in 24H
• Current Ethereum gas fee price
• Current market share chart
• Market fear index

Click here to start using CryptoWhale. A major drawback is the English interface, but you can enter the command "/help" to view all the bot's functions.

Enter the command "/p + space + token name." The bot will provide real-time, specified coin prices, including daily high and low, 1H, 24H, 7D price changes, trading volume, and you can click "Refresh" to update the prices.

Enter "/c + token" or "/ch + token" to display the 1-hour chart or 1-minute chart, respectively.

You can also enter "/ta + token name + trading pair + timeframe + exchange" to display technical indicators, support and resistance levels for the specified token.

Enter "/bfx" to understand the traders on Bitfinex, are they going long or short?

Enter "/hmap" to quickly view the overall performance of the top 25 cryptocurrencies by market cap.

There are also interesting features, such as entering "/ath + token" to see the date, current price, percentage drop from the all-time high, required increase from the high, and the number of days since reaching the peak, providing insight into "how far we are from breaking even."

CoinTrendz

CoinTrendz is a cryptocurrency information channel, providing approximately 20 pieces of information daily, focusing on:

• Total market cap, Bitcoin market dominance, 24-hour trading volume
• BitMEX long vs. short liquidation volume, large liquidation alerts
• Top five gainers and losers in daily price changes
• Twitter discussion ranking
• Cryptocurrency news
• Large orders on Binance
• Project calendars
• Google Trends

Twitter discussion ranking in the past hour

Google Trends for Bitcoin over the past month

Occasional updates on buy orders, sell order totals on Binance, trading volume, and the largest order of the day.