7 min readThe Open Network (TON) began life as the “Telegram Open Network,” a layer‑1 blockchain unveiled by Telegram’s founders in 2018 to extend the app beyond messaging. After the SEC challenged Telegram’s 2018 private token sale, a U.S. court blocked the distribution of “Grams” in 2020 and Telegram withdrew, at which point independent developers revived the codebase as “The Open Network.” A community‑run TON Foundation formed and brought the mainnet online, while Telegram continued separately as a company.  
Governance and funding today are community‑driven (via validator voting on chain configuration) with ecosystem investment arriving from third parties, most notably Pantera Capital, which called TON its “largest investment ever” in early 2024.  
What niche does TON target? It aims to be a highly scalable, consumer‑grade blockchain embedded inside Telegram’s vast user base through “Mini Apps,” wallet integrations and in‑chat payments—bringing crypto to hundreds of millions of mainstream users. In 2024–2025 Telegram rolled out a mini‑app store and deeper TON integrations, and TON‑based apps like Hamster Kombat and Notcoin demonstrated mass‑market reach on Telegram.
Key technical features
Architecture
TON claims to be a “blockchain of blockchains”: a masterchain stores protocol state and validator coordination; multiple workchains host applications; each workchain can split into shardchains to parallelize load. This “infinite sharding” model is designed for horizontal scale.
Consensus & finality
TON runs proof‑of‑stake (PoS) validation with rotating validator sets elected in cycles; validators vote to finalize blocks and can update on‑chain configuration parameters via the Elector contract. Observed block intervals are roughly 2.8–3.0 seconds on mainnet, with finality measured in seconds.
Performance
Public stress tests (audited in real time) demonstrated six‑figure TPS on a test network with hundreds of validators and extensive sharding, illustrating headroom for consumer apps, while maintaining low transaction fees. (As always, test‑net results exceed typical mainnet throughput.)
How it compares
Compared with other L1s, TON has a major advantage: its tight distribution through the global messaging app Telegram. Versus Ethereum, TON emphasizes low latency for consumer actions (seconds‑level finality and minimal fees), while Ethereum focuses on rollup‑centric scaling and broader neutrality.
Token utility: what is TON (Toncoin) for?
Transaction fees: users pay fees in Toncoin; a portion of fees is burned per a community mechanism approved in 2023 to offset issuance.
Staking & security: validators stake Toncoin and earn rewards (inflation plus fees). Community resources reference roughly 0.5%-0.6% annualized issuance directed to validators.
Governance: validators vote on network parameters (e.g., Elector, config changes).
Ecosystem payments: within Telegram, TON powers mini‑apps and on‑platform payments; Telegram has stated Toncoin is the exclusive non‑fiat payment method for Telegram services and that TON is the exclusive blockchain for Mini Apps.
Regarding its supply, in 2023, validators voted to freeze roughly 1.08B TON in inactive miner wallets for 48 months to improve supply clarity (about 20% of supply at the time). As of August 2025, roughly half of the total tokens are in circulation: 2.56 billion out of 5.13 billion, according to Coinmarketcap.
Ecosystem and use cases
Telegram has significantly expanded TON wallet access through its mini-app store and other integrations. In July 2025, the company rolled out an integrated TON wallet to approximately 87 million users in the United States, greatly increasing Toncoin’s visibility and potential adoption within a mainstream audience.
Stablecoins are part of its ecosystem, most notably Tether’s USDT which launched natively on TON in April 2024, alongside XAUT (a gold-backed token), providing a substantial boost to payment liquidity both inside Telegram’s wallet and across TON’s DeFi ecosystem. According to Defillama, as of August 2025, Tether’s USDT accounts for $540 million out of $710 million of stablecoins circulating on the network, trailed by Ethena’s USDe.
Besides payments and remittances, gaming has been a significant part of TON growth: Between 2024 and 2025, tap-to-earn (T2E) games such as Hamster Kombat and Notcoin attracted tens to hundreds of millions of users. These titles demonstrated TON’s ability to reach mass audiences through Telegram’s platform although the long-term sustainability of the simple “tap” gameplay model (where the player only needs to tap on their phone) remains to be seen.
The recent months have confirmed the interest of developers for this network: in July 2025, “The Open Platform” (TOP), a toolkit provider for Telegram’s crypto infrastructure, became the first TON-focused unicorn after raising $28.5 million in a funding round led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from Pantera. This milestone signaled strong investor confidence in TON’s mini-app stack and broader developer ecosystem. Electric Capital’s Developer Report estimated that over 480 developers are partly or fully working on the network, above established networks like Tezos, Bitcoin’s Lightning, Monero, Chainlink or XRP. TON primarily focuses on its native technology stack, including standards like TON Connect and Jettons. However, bridges and software development kits (SDKs) are beginning to emerge to enable integration with EVM-compatible networks and off-chain systems. Distribution for mini-apps remains centered on Telegram rather than on cross-chain deployment.
While TON’s DeFi sector is expanding, it remains smaller in scale compared to leading Layer-1 and Layer-2 ecosystems. Users can monitor live TVL figures, including activity on decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and liquidity platforms, via tracking sites such as DeFiLlama.
Pros and cons
Pros
Mass distribution via Telegram: direct access to a huge user base through mini‑apps, wallet and in‑chat UX.
Low‑latency, scalable design: sharded PoS architecture with seconds‑level block times.
Payments liquidity: native USDT support improves P2P transfers, commerce and DeFi.
Venture backing & ecosystem build‑out: Pantera’s record investment; TOP’s unicorn round.
Cons
Regulatory/association risk: TON’s narrative is intertwined with Telegram. Legal scrutiny of Telegram and its founder (e.g., Durov’s August 2024 arrest and subsequent indictment in France) created short‑term market shocks for Toncoin.
Ecosystem concentration: User growth has been led by mini‑app virality and gaming; sustainability beyond hype cycles is still being proven.
DeFi depth: TVL and protocol diversity remain below top L1s/L2s, though growing.
Summary & strategic considerations
TON is carving out a consumer‑first lane: low‑friction crypto actions embedded in a mainstream messenger. That distribution is complementary to Bitcoin’s “store‑of‑value” role and to Ethereum’s broad developer and DeFi ecosystem; for portfolio construction, TON looks like a thematic bet on mass adoption via Telegram rather than a replacement for BTC/ETH.
