When half a billion dollars disappears under the guise of a "special offer": what happened to TON

The history of TON is developing along a scenario that resembles crypto-crime more than just a marketing mistake. Financial analyst Mikhail Zhukhovitsky analyzed the mechanics of the scam in which Russian brokers sold coins at a 50% discount — and this could become the largest scheme in the history of cryptocurrencies.

When the “special offer” comes from all sides at once

The picture looks like this: VIP managers of the largest banks (“Alfa-Bank”, BCS, “Aton”, “Freedom”) started offering clients TON at a price of $0.58 instead of the market price. But there is a catch — the money will be frozen for two years. In one week, the consultant received the same offer from six different brokers. This is a classic red flag: when everyone starts whispering about a super advantageous deal at the same time, it is almost 100% a scam.

The check by the TON Foundation confirmed suspicions: there were no official discounts that the foundation was aware of. At first, it seemed that the managers were acting alone for personal commissions. Then it turned out - this was a centralized campaign at the direction of management. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars.

Roman Novak: the beautiful face of the iceberg

On the surface of the matter, Roman Novak appears — a successful Dubai businessman with a collection of Lamborghinis and a luxurious lifestyle. But it is physically impossible for one person to gather $500 million. Zhukovitsky expresses a suggestion that sounds logical: it is hard to imagine that the Telegram community itself did not know that someone was trading such volumes in their name. In the crypto circles of Dubai, everyone knows each other.

The Turn That Changed Everything

After the publication by Zhukhovitsky, investors brought him correspondence from 2024 from the official address investors@telegram.org. It turned out that Telegram itself was officially selling TON tokens at discounts. It follows that Novak could simply duplicate the legal scheme by selling fake tokens to uneducated investors.

Or maybe Russian brokers acted through semi-official channels? Either way, the sell-offs lasted for years: from 2022 ( when the mass calls began ) to 2024 ( the official sales ).

Material Science: Why This Will Explode

In 2022, TON was quoted at around $1.3. With a 50% discount and broker fees, investors paid $0.58. It turns out that several thousand investors hold coins at a giant discount. When the lock-up period ends (2024 has already arrived), a wave of profit-taking will begin. The scale could be devastating for the token price.

Zhukhovitsky notes: TON marketers have done a professional job - they created the illusion of scarcity and managed to sell off record amounts before the truth.

This is more than a scam — it is a systemic risk

The scheme in scale has even surpassed the infamous scam of Valeria Fedyakina ( “BitMama” ), who deceived billions of rubles. Here we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars and a structured system.

The lesson is simple: when a good offer is coming from all sides simultaneously — it's a red flag, even if the amount is in the hundreds of millions.