Telegram Bot

Overview

The BlockBee Telegram Bot lets you sell access to a Telegram channel or group, and sell products, for crypto. It is a Mini App: an app that opens inside Telegram. You run your store from it, and your buyers pay in it, without leaving Telegram.

When someone subscribes, your bot gives them an invite link that works once, and only for them. When their subscription ends, the bot removes them from the chat. Before it ends, the bot reminds them to renew.

How It Works

There are two bots:

• @blockbee_bot is where you manage your store. Tap Open BlockBee to open the app.
• Your own bot, which you create with @BotFather, is your store. Buyers tap Open Store to browse, pay and join. The store shows your logo and your store name.

What you manage in the app

• Products - things you sell once.
• Subscriptions - your plans, each with a price and a duration, and your subscribers.
• Coupons - discount codes for your plans.
• Wallet addresses - where payments go.
• Payment Settings - your logo, currency and the coins buyers can pay with.
• Bots - connect your bot, link its chat, turn it on or off, and see its stats.

What buyers get

• Your products and plans, with coupons applied at checkout.
• Payment in any of the coins you accept.
• A one-time invite link to your channel or group after paying.
• Their orders and subscriptions, and a Renew button.

Create Your Telegram Bot

Your store runs in a bot you own. Create it with @BotFather:

1. Open @BotFather and send /newbot.
2. Choose a name, then a username. The username must end in "bot" (e.g. MyStoreBot).
3. BotFather replies with a token. Copy it. You need it to connect the bot.

Figure 1: Creating a new bot with BotFather

Before you continue, open your new bot and press Start. BlockBee sends you a message in this chat when you link your channel.

Open BlockBee in Telegram

1. Open @blockbee_bot and tap Open BlockBee.
2. Log in with your BlockBee account. No account yet? Create one first.

You only log in once. After that, the app knows your Telegram account.

Figure 2: Opening BlockBee from @blockbee_bot

Set Up Your Store

Do these in the app before you connect your bot:

1. Set your wallet addresses. Payments go to the addresses you set. See how to set up the addresses.
2. Open Payment Settings. Add your logo, choose your currency and pick the coins you accept. Your store stays closed to buyers until it has a logo.
3. Create your plans. In Subscriptions, set up the subscription service (it only needs a name), then add a plan for each price and duration you offer.

Figure 3: Payment Settings: logo, currency and accepted coins

Figure 4: Your subscription plans

Connect Your Bot

1. In the app, open Bots and tap Connect a bot.
2. Paste the token from @BotFather.

BlockBee sets up your bot's Open Store button. One bot serves one profile: the profile selected at the top of the app.

Figure 5: Connecting your bot

Link Your Channel or Group

1. Add your bot to your channel or group as an administrator, with the rights to invite and to restrict (ban) members.
2. In the app, open your bot in Bots and tap Link channel or Link group.
3. BlockBee sends a button to your bot's chat. Open that chat, tap the button and pick your channel or group.

Figure 6: Linking your channel or group

Go Live

1. In Bots, open your bot and tap Activate.
2. Share your bot's link (t.me/YourStoreBot) with your audience.

Figure 7: Activating your bot

While the bot is active, it removes members whose subscription has ended and sends renewal reminders. While it is inactive, nobody is removed and no reminders are sent.

In the bot's screen you can also add store information (About Us, FAQs, Contact Us) that buyers see in your store, and see your bot's stats.

Testing Your Telegram Bot

Test with a real payment of a small amount.

1. Pick a low-fee coin

Use a coin with low network fees, such as USDT on TON or Litecoin (LTC).

2. Make a small test purchase

• Create a plan with a small price (e.g. $2.00).
• From another Telegram account, open your bot, tap Open Store and buy the plan.
• Check that the payment shows as pending, then as confirmed.

Figure 8: Your store, opened with Open Store

3. Testing checklist

• ✅ Your bot opens your store, with your logo and plans
• ✅ The checkout shows the coins you accept
• ✅ After payment, the buyer gets an invite link that works once
• ✅ The new member appears in Subscriptions
• ✅ A coupon gives the right discount
• ✅ When a short test plan ends, the member is removed from the chat