Regardless of gathering little consideration all through the bear market, Telegram-integrated blockchain, The Open Community (TON), is the quickest rising main Layer 1 chain in 2024.
TON’s whole worth locked (TVL) has elevated 27 instances to $386 million from $14 million this yr, outpacing all competing Layer 1s and Ethereum Layer 2s on a share foundation. The community’s native token, Toncoin, has surged too, boasting the fifth largest year-to-date achieve among the many high 50 tokens per CoinMarketCap, displacing competing Layer 1 Cardano from the highest 10.
The Open Community’s speedy ascent started in February with the launch of its Open League incentives program. The community’s ad-sharing program and Tether partnership have additionally pushed exercise and token worth. TON’s progress showcases how a web2 app can efficiently be a basis for a robust web3 ecosystem, particularly with a pre-existing person base of over 900 million month-to-month energetic customers (MAU), like Telegram has.
SEC Scrutiny
Initially based in 2013 by Pavel and Nikolai Durov, Telegram is the 4th hottest messaging app on this planet by MAU.
Not too long ago, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov acknowledged: “We’ll most likely cross one billion month-to-month energetic customers inside a yr now”.
The official Telegram workforce launched its blockchain, TON, in 2018 however confronted scrutiny from the Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) and was compelled to close down operations.
In 2021, the undertaking restarted growth beneath the stewardship of the TON Basis, which operates adjoining to Telegram.
TON of Incentives
Nevertheless it’s been the previous few months when the ecosystem began taking off. Bootstrapped by its incentives program known as the “Open League”, the TON basis is offering a multi-season rollout of $TON incentives.
The Open League will distribute over $150M in rewards throughout the course of this system, break up amongst a wide range of classes resembling DeFi, NFT, Token, and App ecosystems.
As of March, Telegram introduced its ad-sharing program constructed on TON. Channel house owners that qualify will obtain 50% of the income that Telegram makes from advertisements displayed within the respective channels, and fee distributions and withdrawals are moved solely via the TON blockchain.
Constructed on Telegram
Nearly all of TON”s infrastructure is constructed on high of the messaging app, Telegram, to leverage its current person base. TON-native pockets options resembling Tonkeeper can function instantly throughout the messaging app. Tonkeeper wallets are additionally obtainable as a separate cellular app or as an internet software, and is presently the number one ranked finance app on Google Play.
Tonkeeper transactions are routed via a Telegram channel, much like how different Telegram bots operate. These wallets permit for self-custody, funds, transfers, and entry to purposes resembling NFT marketplaces, however as an alternative of interacting with an put in browser extension, like most different Layer 1 chains, the capabilities are hosted in Telegram.
TON raised $250 million in a 2022 spherical together with Masks Community, FJ Labs, and MEXC Enterprise. The community additionally has strategic assist from corporations resembling Animoca Manufacturers and OKX. Final month, Pantera Capital introduced their funding into TON, citing it as their “largest funding ever”.
Pantera accomplice Ryan Barney wrote in a Might 8 letter, “By leveraging Telegram’s huge person base and seamless UX with the vibrancy of TON’s rising ecosystem, we consider TON has the potential to turn out to be one of many largest crypto networks.”
DeFi on TON
Nonetheless in its infancy, TON’s on-chain economic system is small in comparison with Toncoin’s market cap of $17 billion. Whereas its TVL soared this yr, opponents resembling Sui boast 85% extra property held in good contacts and extra native dApps, regardless of being valued almost 70% decrease.
A large quantity of the on-chain exercise on TON takes place on the chain’s largest native decentralized alternate (DEX), STON.fi, which hosts 67% of the full TVL. Exterior of STON.Fi, and TON’s main liquid staking answer, Tonstakers, DeFi on The Open Community is proscribed to a couple small lending and derivatives platforms.
Asynchronous Funds
TON runs an asynchronous fee channel by way of two interacting networks known as shard chains, that finalize transactions independently, after which affirm their states to the fee channel’s good contract.
That is totally different from different community designs, together with Solana’s and Ethereum’s, which have synchronous funds, the place one can not start the subsequent transaction in a contract with out affirmation of the preliminary transaction.
On TON, the execution of good contract capabilities will happen in a future block versus the block the transaction is confirmed in. This may also help the community deal with excessive volumes of advanced good contract interactions.
TON’s developer group is small. Electrical Capital cites 175 month-to-month energetic builders on TON as of Dec. 31, 2023, in comparison with Solana’s 1,615. Regardless of this, TON touts the second-highest two-year progress share by way of energetic builders, surpassed solely by Celestia.
The Way forward for TON
One of many major objectives for 2024 can be cross-chain interoperability, by integrating compatibility with Ethereum token customary ERC-20 , a founding member of the TON Core Dev Staff, often known as Dr. Superior Doge on social media, stated on the Web3 Competition held in April.
The developer additionally stated the workforce is constructing bridge assist for different blockchains, together with Bitcoin and Solana.
In the meantime, the token continues to outperform. Toncoin was the thirteenth finest performer out of the 100 greatest cash by market cap prior to now seven days, in accordance with CoinGecko.
The Open League incentives program continues to be underway and getting ready to start its Season 4. Season 3 concluded on Might 29, and the TON basis is presently accepting and reviewing purposes for the subsequent season’s contributors.
