🔍 What is TON?

• TON (The Open Network) is a layer 1 blockchain originally developed by the brothers Nikolai & Pavel Durov, based on the Telegram platform. After being blocked by the SEC in 2020, the project became an open, decentralized ecosystem led by the community .

• The TON network employs a Proof‑of‑Stake sharding mechanism, allowing for high-speed processing, very low fees (less than $0.01), and an optimal design for global-scale applications .

🚀 History & Future

• Late 2019 – early 2020: Telegram had to halt the project after the SEC sued and refunded investors .

• 2020 – 2021: The project was continued by the community, establishing the TON Foundation (Switzerland), launching Toncoin, and implementing various services such as DNS, Storage, Proxy, etc. .

• April 2024: Telegram integrates an internal wallet, launching TON Space for over 900 million users .

• April 2024: USDT (Tether) expands on the TON network .

• April 2025: TON Foundation appoints Maximilian Crown, former CFO/COO of MoonPay, as CEO, aiming to enhance the payments sector and expand Telegram relations .

🛠️ Main applications of Toncoin

• Transaction costs, staking fees, and Validator rewards.

• Used to purchase advertisements, bid on “.ton” domain names, and pay for services on Telegram.

• Facilitating off-chain micropayments such as TON Payments, Proxy, Storage, DNS .

🌐 Notable ecosystem

• TON Wallet/TON Space/Tonkeeper: Decentralized wallet integrated with Telegram .

• TON DNS: Domain naming .ton instead of long wallet address .

• TON Storage: Decentralized storage of large files .

• TON Proxy: Decentralized VPN network against censorship .

• STON.fi, KTON…: DeFi & liquid staking on the TON network .