Pantera Capital recently announced its latest investment in TON. TON is a layer-one blockchain network initially designed by Telegram and continued to be developed by the open-source community. We believe TON has the potential to introduce cryptocurrencies to the masses, as it has gained widespread usage within the Telegram network.
Telegram, with over 900 million monthly active users, is a forward-looking, fast, and secure messaging platform used for personal and team communication, large-scale community building, and content sharing. By leveraging Telegram’s extensive user base, seamless user experience, and the vitality of the emerging TON ecosystem, we believe TON has the potential to become one of the largest crypto networks.
Among the leading communication tools worldwide, Telegram stands out not only because it embodies the spirit of cryptocurrencies but also because it has significant distribution. Telegram’s monthly downloads often surpass its closest alternative, Signal, by 10 times, with over 36.7 million downloads in January 2024.
So, what about other messaging apps? Telegram is the only major platform that is unencumbered by regulations and can incorporate Web3 into an open blockchain network. While Facebook’s Messenger attempted to integrate encrypted payments with Libra, they ultimately faced regulatory hurdles in the United States, leading to a complete shutdown. WeChat attempted to integrate CBDC payments with limited scope, and developers lacked the ability to build permissionless applications.
We believe that due to Telegram’s shared spirit with the crypto world and its extensive distribution, Telegram is in a favorable position to bring cryptocurrencies into the mainstream.
TON is a blockchain project developed by Telegram, aiming to build a decentralized network capable of supporting various applications using the messaging app’s extensive user base. TON features a diverse ecosystem, including TON blockchain, TON Storage, TON DNS, and TON Services, all integrated seamlessly.
The backbone of this system, TON blockchain, is built for high performance and scalability, with its dynamic sharding mechanism enabling fast transaction processing. This architecture ensures that the network can handle millions of transactions per second and scales effectively with the growing number of users, making it an ideal choice for developers looking to launch applications for billions of users without compromising speed or security.
TON’s dynamic sharding provides a scalable network for millions of users.
Using cryptocurrency applications can often be challenging for users. New users need to write down a 24-word key and store it securely. But what if they forget their password? How can they send or receive payments to other users? Copying and pasting public keys may not be the optimal experience.
Telegram simplifies many complexities through its Top.co wallet, allowing users to seamlessly connect to applications within Telegram. Users can easily buy, sell, or manage tokens and NFTs in one interface and access them directly through Telegram chats and settings.
Telegram’s wallet in Top.co features both custodial and self-custodial management based on TON, providing an easy onboarding experience for all users while allowing experienced users to have full control over their keys. With TON’s self-custodial wallet, users don’t need to remember mnemonic phrases; instead, they can simply use Telegram and email as backups.
Top.co’s Telegram wallet has 15 million users and continues to grow.
TON’s thriving ecosystem leverages Telegram’s innovative design and massive user base. Over 360 million users per month use Telegram’s “bots” and mini-games, referred to as “mini-programs.” Through TON, we expect to integrate crypto technology into these mini-programs, significantly enhancing the user experience for billions of users. TON hosts over 300 projects, with the majority building mini-programs on Telegram accessible through the Telegram app center.
Earlier this year, we observed how meme coin trading tools like BonkBot generated tens of millions of dollars in revenue through Telegram’s user interface. TON-based applications, such as StormTrade, now enable users to trade perpetual contracts, cryptocurrencies, stocks, and equities using the same interface. StormTrade has a daily trading volume exceeding $10 million, and we believe similar TON-native Telegram bots will become the preferred user experience for many traders.
Telegram serves as the foundation for viral social and gaming applications. Early experimental Telegram games like Pixels and Fanzee Battles attracted millions of users within days, showcasing the platform’s immense potential for user engagement. Catizen is a cat-themed gaming platform built on TON, currently having over 4 million users, with over 700,000 users playing daily. Notcoin is a social app built on TON where users compete to mine digital currencies, quickly attracting over 30 million users, making it one of the fastest crypto adoption events ever.
TON Foundation recently announced its incentive program, which will reward successful TON application development. We believe this will foster the creation of exciting new crypto mini-programs that have the potential to attract the masses.
TON is providing various monetization, sharing, and business development opportunities for the Telegram community. As a decentralized marketplace on the TON network, Fragment offers a platform where users can trade virtual phone numbers, custom Telegram usernames, and other collectibles. Fragment has facilitated over $350 million in sales of custom usernames and virtual phone numbers. This is just the beginning, as in the near future, the 73 billion Telegram stickers sent could potentially be transformed into NFTs. These NFTs could then be bought and sold on the TON blockchain.
Telegram, through its TON blockchain-based Fragment platform, integrates revenue sharing with content creators and channel owners, taking an important step forward. This marks a shift in the traditional social media model, allowing these creators to earn income directly from their channel’s ad revenue. This approach not only rewards content creators but also fosters closer relationships between the platform and its users, promoting more equitable distribution of economic benefits within the digital ecosystem.
On April 19, 2024, Tether announced the deployment of its stablecoin, USDt, on the TON blockchain and Telegram wallet. This development represents a significant advancement for the crypto industry, as it allows billions of users to seamlessly send and receive stablecoins through the Telegram platform, making payments as simple as using Venmo or Apple Cash.
TON’s scalable and cost-effective nature enables transactions between two users to be charged a fixed fee of approximately $0.10, which is 66% cheaper than other crypto payment platforms. Additionally, it offers built-in deposit and withdrawal channels, including bank transfers and exchanges, further facilitating accessibility and usage.
Stablecoin payments on TON.
We believe that stablecoin payments on the Telegram wallet are particularly important for individuals in developing countries who often lack access to banking services and are forced to navigate complex crypto user interfaces to store and transfer funds. With stablecoins deployed on the TON network, cryptocurrencies are moving towards realizing the vision of programmable peer-to-peer currency and a globally accessible decentralized financial system, taking a significant leap forward.
We believe the TON network is still in its early stages, and we are excited to witness the adoption of its ecosystem and new features by the Telegram user community.
Telegram’s core embodies the spirit of cryptocurrencies: “an open, free network accessible to everyone.” With TON, Telegram has achieved a symbiotic relationship where scalable smart contract capabilities and a robust payment network enable breakthrough functionalities that were previously unattainable in the Web2 environment.
With its massive user base, scalable infrastructure, thriving mini-program ecosystem, and native stablecoin transactions, TON fully taps into the potential of a network with 900 million active users.
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