🚀 Big News from the TON Ecosystem!
The Open Platform (TOP), the key development team behind Telegram’s blockchain project, TON (The Open Network), just closed a massive $28.5 million Series A funding round at a whopping $1 billion valuation 💰📈, according to Fortune.
💼 The round was led by Ribbit Capital, a top fintech investment firm, with major participation from crypto powerhouse Pantera Capital.
📊 In exchange for the funding, investors received a 5% equity stake in the company — and interestingly, no crypto tokens were involved in the deal. CEO Andrew Rogozov confirmed that TOP has now raised over $70 million in total funding to date 🌍🚀.
🧠 The Brains Behind Telegram Wallet
TOP is the team responsible for building Telegram Wallet, the main crypto wallet integrated into Telegram 📨🔐. So far, the wallet has been rolled out across Russia, Asia, and other regions, but now, with this fresh capital, TOP plans to expand into the US and Europe 🌎.
🏗️ According to Rogozov, scaling into new regions comes with high costs — especially around regulatory compliance and operational infrastructure. This new funding will help TOP tackle those challenges head-on 💼.
And that's not all: the money will also support the development of TON-based blockchain games 🎮 and AI-powered projects 🤖. TOP’s long-term mission is to build a super app ecosystem powered entirely by TON
📣 Why Investors Are Hyped
Both Ribbit Capital and Pantera Capital believe Telegram’s massive global user base — now over 1 billion people — makes this a rare opportunity 📱
“The chance to back revolutionary tech and financial tools that could reach a billion users is incredibly exciting,” said Ryan Barney, partner at Pantera Capital 🌟
🕰️ A Quick Look Back
Telegram originally raised $1.7 billion for TON back in 2018, but things hit a wall in 2020 when the U.S. SEC filed a lawsuit ⚖️🛑. As part of the settlement, Telegram refunded $1.2 billion to investors and paid an $18.5 million fine.
#TON #altcoins $TON