Telegram Blockchain, Toncoin(TON) Explodes in Growth
Telegram-based blockchain Toncoin is experiencing strong growth, The Block analyzes in its Data & Insights. Together with Telegram's strong user base, TON's continued development is attracting market attention. Toncoin was initially launched as an open network on Telegram. Today, it is a community-developed blockchain backed by Telegram, which has more than 900 million users. The SEC's warning has spurred the open-source community to continue development.
In February of this year, Telegram announced ad revenue sharing, splitting revenue 50/50 with channel owners. Importantly, this revenue will be paid in Toncoin. Telegram channels receive a trillion views per month, but only 10% of them were monetized with ads. Content creators can not only cash out Toncoin, but also use it to promote or upgrade their channels. The main objective of the plan is to bring key Telegram users into the Toncoin ecosystem.
In April, Tether launched its USDT stablecoin on the TON network, allowing users to spend USDT pegged to the dollar. Within two months of launch, the TON supply of USDT exceeded $500 million.
Recently, the TON network has seen a surge in users and activity due to the popularity of crypto mini-games on Telegram. Tap-to-earn games like Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and Catizen allow users to convert in-game currency into real-world airdrops. These games are playing a big role in increasing user engagement for TON.
As Toncoin's popularity has grown, its value has skyrocketed. Today, Toncoin has a market capitalization of $18 billion, more than doubling from the beginning of the year. This makes it the ninth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. TON's total value of deposits (TVL) has also skyrocketed, surpassing $600 million earlier this month.
Many credit Toncoin's wide user base for its easy integration into the Telegram app. Ctypro VC firm Pantera Capital is raising a second Toncoin fund after making an investment in May.
Ton's usage metrics also confirm this explosive growth. The 7-day moving average transaction volume has grown from 645,000 at the beginning of the year to 5 million today, and the 7-day moving average active addresses have jumped from 26,000 to over 340,000. While there have been fluctuations in these charts, the overall direction remains upward. Whether this level of growth is sustainable remains to be seen, but it is likely to remain above pre-2024 levels of activity.
