The Rise of the TON Ecosystem: From Telegram's Abandonment to a Reversal as the Ninth Largest by Market Cap

This Project Abandoned by Telegram Has Now Become a Crypto Powerhouse

Do you remember Telegram’s $1.7 billion ICO in 2018? It was called Gram back then, but was abruptly abandoned after the SEC sued them. Unexpectedly, an open-source team called NewTON managed to revive the project, renamed it TON, and now it has climbed into the global top 9 by market cap. Ironically, Telegram later launched a crypto wallet based on TON for its 800 million users.

Key Data at a Glance:

• Market Cap: $21.7 billion (9th globally)
• Current Token Price: $6.24 (surpassed $7.5 in April 2024)
• Native Token: Toncoin, total supply of 5 billion, annual inflation of 0.6%
• Team Holdings: Only 1.45% (the rest issued through POW mining)

Why Was TON Able to Make a Comeback?

1. Performance Outclasses Peers

TON aims to handle millions of TPS, using sharding technology to allow multiple chains to operate in parallel. Compared to Ethereum’s meager 15-30 TPS, TON is like putting rocket engines on a blockchain. Gas fees are negligible, rivaling Solana but with greater stability.

2. Consensus Mechanism Upgrade

In 2022, it switched from POW to POS, requiring validators to stake tokens to participate. The combination of a random selection mechanism and a slashing policy (failure to perform results in deposit forfeiture) ensures both security and active participation.

3. Ecosystem Explosion

2023 was a turning point for TON:

• Telegram bots like Unibot and Bananagun exploded in popularity, channeling traffic to TON
• Tether issued USDT on TON, which was the real game changer (establishing a stablecoin ecosystem)
• MEXC Ventures made a strategic investment, providing industry endorsement

From 2018 until now, TON has gone through a complete cycle: abandoned, rescued, ignored, then exploding in popularity. This story alone is worth pondering.

Risks Investors Should Know

• Inflation Pressure: Annual 0.6% unlimited inflation, diluting token value over time
• Validator Concentration: While POS is theoretically more decentralized, actual participation is an issue
• Telegram Dependency: Ecosystem growth is highly tied to Telegram user growth

Underlying Logic

TON’s success isn’t about revolutionary technology, but rather the perfect combination of timing, narrative, and capital. The 2023-2024 period coincided with the AI + Telegram Bot boom, and the market needed a public chain to handle this traffic. TON seized the moment, and with Tether’s endorsement, the ecosystem came alive.

However, competition among high-TPS chains is fierce, with new players like Monad and Solana L2 eyeing the top spot. How long TON can hold its position depends on the ecosystem’s retention of users and applications.