[Interview with Dr. Awesome Doge] Exploring TON’s Present and Future: Collaborating with Telegram to Forge an “All In One” App

TON, backed by the 900 million active users of Telegram, has achieved remarkable success this year. Dapp.com recently had an exclusive interview with Dr. Awesome Doge, one of the early core developers and founder of TONX. Dr. Awesome Doge, a Bitcoin OG from 2013, shared insights on TON’s present and future.

As one of the first core developers of TON, Dr. Awesome Doge helped transition the TON testnet to the current executive team in 2021. He then founded TONX and has been dedicated to providing significant technical output for the TON Foundation. Over the past two years, he has successfully organized six hackathons and incubated over 20 teams, all aiming to contribute to the TON blockchain.

Discussing TON’s developer ecosystem, Dr. Awesome Doge mentioned that the Func programming language was initially a significant barrier for developers. However, the foundation now promotes Tact, a language similar to Solidity, which allows developers to easily create smart contracts on TON. His role is more like guiding developers to find their place in the TON ecosystem and providing them with necessary information and support.

According to the Q3 2020 report, TON experienced a 17.66% growth in developer numbers. Dr. Awesome Doge praised the courage of TON developers, especially the recent influx of Sui and Aptos developers who are willing to explore new programming languages. He also highlighted Taiwan as a friendly place for blockchain developers.

In September 2020, TON announced a partnership with Tencent Cloud, where Tencent Cloud joined as a validation node for TON. This collaboration aimed to establish more nodes globally, enhancing the performance and security of the TON blockchain. Notably, Tencent Cloud will also assist in building web applications and bots within Telegram, creating a super app similar to WeChat through Telegram’s Mini App support. Dr. Awesome Doge explained that Mini Apps are not limited to Web3 TON support; they can be used for various purposes, such as ride-hailing or Visa cards.

The ambiguous relationship between Telegram and TON is well-known in the cryptocurrency market, with their closeness being seen as both a positive and a risk for TON. After being charged by the SEC in 2020 for illegal fundraising through TON, Telegram abandoned the project and refunded the funds. However, Telegram’s CTO, John Hyman, and TON Foundation’s President, Steven Yun, recently attended the Token 2049 conference in Singapore to announce the new collaboration called “TON Space,” which integrates the TON cryptocurrency wallet seamlessly into Telegram. This collaboration allows Telegram to become the largest IM software globally while opening the doors to Web3. Dr. Awesome Doge believes that although Telegram legally considers TON as a third party, the relationship between the two is tightly integrated, and their goals are aligned.

TON, in collaboration with its top strategic partner TONX, will host the first “TON Hacker House” event at the Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong on April 4th. This event aims to award $1.5 million in prizes to developers. Over 800 developers and 80 projects have already registered, and notable industry leaders such as Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, Steve Yun, President of the TON Foundation, and Allen Ng, CEO of Everest Ventures Group, will be attending. Dr. Awesome Doge will also participate as a professional judge.

Related articles:
– Interpreting the history of The Open Network (TON): From failure to rebirth
– TON secures millions of dollars in funding from MEXC Ventures, driving Telegram towards becoming a Web3 super app
– A technical study on how TON, backed by Telegram, has risen
– Overview of TON blockchain ecosystem applications, covering 551 DApps in 16 tracks.