TON (Telegram Open Network) is a decentralized blockchain platform developed by Telegram, a popular messaging app. It was designed to provide a fast, scalable and secure platform for decentralised applications (dApps) and services. The TON network seeks to leverage the Telegram community of over 950mio users.

History

February 2018: Telegram (TG) released a whitepaper for Telegram Open Network. The ICO raised $1.7Bio.
October 2020: TG released the TON testnet.
December 2020: TG announced that it would be discontinuing the TON project due to regulatory issues with the U.S. SEC.
February 2021: a group of developers (many associated with the original TG project) and validators forked the TON code & launched a new network, Free Ton.
May 2021: Free Ton rebranded as Toncoin (TON) and launched its mainnet.
June 2021: Toncoin listed on major cryptocurrency exchanges.

Toncoin Summary

Toncoin is TON's native cryptocurrency. The Ton network uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Each time a transaction is completed ‘gas’ is paid in TON. The transactions are grouped together in blocks every 2-3 seconds. The blocks are validated by the stakers, who pledge their TON to secure the Network. The stakers receive a reward of approximately 2.7%p.a. for pledging their TON.

TON Network Statistics

Price $5.72
Market Cap $14.4Bio, Fully Diluted Market Cap $29.2Bio
Total value locked (TVL) USD$620.3mio
Major Dapps include STON.fi, DeDust & Tonstakers

Why use the TON Network

Ease of use (less than 10 seconds to download a wallet on the TG app)
Fast transaction speeds (up to 100k transactions per second)
Low transaction fees
High scalability through sharding and off-chain transactions
Exponential adoption
TON ecosystem expanding (Dapps, payments, services)
Decentralised Governance
Partnerships and collaborations
Improving infrastructure
Developers are engaged

Ease of Use

Go to the search bar in your Telegram app and type in ‘wallet’. 4 clicks later and you will have downloaded a TON wallet. You can buy crypto using your bank card or transfer crypto from an external wallet. SIMPLES!

Fast Transaction Speeds

The TON Network boasts speeds up to 100k transactions per second. The block time is every 2-3 seconds. The confirmation time is typically within 2-5 seconds. Smart contracts are executed in milliseconds and network latency is typically around 500-700ms. To summarise, the Network is FAST!

Low Transaction Costs

Toncoin has a unique feature called ‘zero fee transactions’ for certain types of transactions (TON token transfers & smart contract calls). All the remaining transactions pay an average transaction fee of $0.0001 USD.

High Scalability through Sharding & Off-chain Transactions

Sharding enables parallel processing of transactions for increased throughput. Off-chain transactions enable faster and cheaper transactions. Hypercube routing enables efficient data transmission and routing.

Exponential Adoption

Telegram has over 950mio users. If TON can capture 10% of this market via daily active users then it will swamp both Ethereum and Solana combined. Hamster Kombat, a TON based game, is making headlines as one of the fastest-growing apps in history. Since its launch in March 2024, the game has amassed over 239mio players. In May, Hamster Combat had 7.1mio daily active users, this number is much larger today. Compare the daily active users to Solana (1mio) and Ethereum (400k) which have a market capitalisation 5 and 20 times larger than TON respectively.

It is also worth noting that the Notcoin listing saw TON onboard 1mio users in a single day, a blockchain record! Finally, TON's integration with Telegram for ad revenue sharing presents a unique growth opportunity.

TON Ecosystem Expanding

The TON Network breaks the ecosystem up into the following key components; TON storage, TON sites, TON DNS, TON Proxy, TON Services and TON Payments.

TON Storage offers decentralized file storage solutions. It supports the storage of large data files off-chain
TON sites include mini Apps, GameFi and Defi. With such a large audience on TG, every business will want exposure. JellyC is doing DD on launching the new website on TON
The TON domain name service (DNS) enables the assignment of human-readable names to accounts, smart contracts, and dApps e.g. JellyC.ton
TON Proxy provides privacy and security features by masking user IP addresses and enabling secure, private connectivity akin to VPN services
The internal payment system of TON, known as TON Payments, uses Toncoin as the default currency. It facilitates various transactions within the network, including transfers between TON wallets, micro-payments in dApps, and payments for services like TON Storage, TON DNS & TON Proxy

Decentralised Governance

TON has a DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation) that enables holders to vote on proposals for the network’s development and growth. Also note that Toncoin’s code is open source, allowing developers to contribute and review changes. This is important as it means the full code can be viewed on Github, ensuring encryption is not compromised (see Signal, WhatsApp, etc who do not allow the full code to be viewed).

Decentralised governance means transparency and community involvement.

Partners and Collaboration

The number 1 partner for TON is Telegram
Pantera (a large U.S. investment manager) has backed TON by making its largest investment ever and offered co-investment opportunities for their investors
Tether deposited $60mio USDT onto the TON network and has helped facilitate stablecoin payments. This has grown to USDT$620mio TVL today.
Animoca Brands’ Mocaverse signed a strategic partnership with the TON Foundation in July

Improving Infrastructure

The development of user-friendly wallets, bridges & other infrastructure is making it easier than ever for newbies to join in the blockchain fun. The Ton Network is more likely to be associated with Telegram than blockchain, such is the ease of use. The Ton Network has the best chance of mass adoption if it works alongside Telegram.

Developers are Engaged

The TON network has attracted 245 monthly active developers with 1,521,856 total commits. This has led to the creation of new projects, tools & services. Electric Capital Developer Report - TON

Summary

The unprecedented adoption of TON in 2024 has made this Network a ‘must have’ in every crypto portfolio. At JellyC we are very pleased to announce that we have locked in a strategic stake for the Bluebottle Multi-Strategy Fund. We have reduced our market-neutral position & allocated 12% of the AUM to TON. We continue to build TON on a monthly cost average basis in the Bluebottle Digital Infrastructure Fund.

DISCLAIMER

This information is general info only and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Please ensure you do your own research.

Research Paper: TON (Telegram Open Network)