A Comprehensive Overview of TON Ecosystem Development and Popular Projects: What Hidden Wealth Opportunities Lie Behind Its Rise?
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A Comprehensive Overview of TON Ecosystem Development and Popular Projects: What Hidden Wealth Opportunities Lie Behind Its Rise?
Backed by Telegram's massive user base of 1 billion, the TON ecosystem is expanding at an unstoppable pace, making us incredibly excited about the prospects of large-scale adoption of TON.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWhile most crypto projects are struggling through a harsh winter, the TON ecosystem is rapidly expanding and capturing investors' attention. This year, TON has delivered astonishing returns in investment portfolios, showing relative resilience even during broad market downturns and significant altcoin declines. This breakthrough performance stems from vigorous internal growth within the TON ecosystem. The price of $TON surpassed $8 this year, achieving an annual return rate of 480%. The surge in price has drawn widespread attention to its ecosystem—Total Value Locked (TVL) grew 20-fold within three months, exceeding $600 million, while daily active addresses briefly surpassed those of Ethereum. Backed by Telegram’s massive user base of over one billion, the TON ecosystem is expanding at an unstoppable pace, making us extremely excited about its prospects for large-scale adoption.
I. The Origins and Evolution of Ton
1. How the Project Was Founded:
TON was originally developed by Telegram founders Nikolai and Pavel Durov. Telegram is undoubtedly one of the giants in social communication today, with over one billion active users. Thanks to Telegram's vast resources and extensive influence, TON was endowed with extraordinary expectations from the outset.
- In 2017, Telegram launched an ICO raising $1.8 billion to introduce its own cryptocurrency project, TON.
- In 2018, a private sale raised $1.7 billion, and the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain was introduced. Unfortunately, in 2019, the SEC challenged the offering, accusing Telegram of illegal fundraising, ultimately forcing Telegram to abandon the TON project.
- In 2020, Telegram announced that it would open-source the TON project, handing it over to the community to continue development. With Telegram’s endorsement and support, community teams restarted and optimized TON, renaming it "The Open Network."
- In 2022, TON Nominator Pools, TON DeFi, TON DNS, TON Payment, TON Proxy, TON Sites, and TON Storage were successively launched.
- In September 2023, as regulatory attitudes toward the crypto industry shifted, Telegram officially declared TON as its Web3 infrastructure, establishing a formal partnership.
- In June this year, Tether announced a collaboration with TON, integrating USDT into the TON ecosystem. Within three days, the total supply of USDT on the TON chain exceeded 60 million tokens, indicating rapid user growth across the ecosystem.
Telegram’s backing provides powerful credibility for TON. As a tech giant with a massive user base, combined with Tether’s support, the path toward widespread adoption of TON is clearly being paved.
2. The latest official TON roadmap reveals a vibrant future, with several key updates planned for the second half of 2024:
Latest roadmap from the TON official website
- Gasless Transactions: This feature will significantly reduce transaction costs for users, enhancing overall user experience.
- Official Cross-Chain Bridge: Its launch will not only improve TON’s security but also enable seamless integration with other ecosystems, boosting cross-chain interoperability.
- New-Generation Wallet: Will offer users a more convenient and secure asset management tool.
- Stablecoin Toolkit: Will expand financial use cases within the TON ecosystem, such as micropayments.
- Enhanced Staking: Optimization will further incentivize user participation in network governance and maintenance.
These new initiatives will significantly enhance TON’s functionality and competitiveness. With gas fees eliminated, micro-financial transactions become easier, fostering novel applications like in-app micropayments and content monetization. Although third-party bridges already exist on TON, the official bridge will bring qualitative improvements in security, user experience, and cross-ecosystem connectivity. Moreover, once fully integrated with Telegram’s vast user base, traffic monetization could unlock substantial commercial value for the entire ecosystem.
II. Current State of the Ecosystem
The TON team continues optimizing its technical architecture to balance performance and scalability. It actively promotes ecosystem development, attracting more developers—currently, 858 projects have joined the TON ecosystem. We expect the TON chain to achieve even greater prosperity in the near future. Below are highlights from several key sectors:
Data source: ton.app website
1. Wallets:
Wallets are the first step into the TON ecosystem. According to data from ton.app, there are currently 47 wallets supporting the TON chain. Here are some commonly used ones:
In-app wallet connection page within Telegram
- Ton Space:
The official wallet of the TON Foundation, embedded within Telegram. Accessible via Wallet → Ton Space, users can directly connect to TON-based dApps. Functionally similar to non-custodial EVM wallets, existing accounts from wallets like Tonkeeper can be imported. Unlike others, Ton Space allows recovery using email or Telegram account credentials in addition to seed phrases. Note: Currently supports only Toncoin and TON-native tokens.
- Tonkeeper:
A non-custodial Web3 wallet tailored specifically for the TON ecosystem. Users maintain full control over their private keys and assets. Supports receiving, sending, and purchasing cryptocurrencies directly in-app. Features an integrated exchange for token trading and supports TON staking. Includes a built-in browser enabling secure and private interaction with dApps, making it a super app within the TON environment.
- MyTonWallet:
A popular wallet in the TON ecosystem requiring no KYC verification. Has issued its own token $MY, which is not yet listed on centralized exchanges.
- Tonhub
- DeWallet
2. DeFi:
Despite explosive TVL growth on the TON chain over the past two months, its underlying architecture is less developer-friendly compared to Ethereum Layer 2 solutions. As a result, we haven’t seen large-scale migration of leading projects, and DeFi diversity still has significant room for improvement. Key DeFi protocols include:
- Tonstakers: Liquid staking protocol where users stake $TON to receive $stTON.
- Ston.fi: A cornerstone of the TON ecosystem offering liquidity mining, DEX, lending services, staking, and rewards. Users can provide liquidity, trade tokens, borrow/lend crypto, and earn rewards via staking. Offers the most comprehensive range of trading pairs on TON.
- Bemo: Liquid staking platform.
- Stakee: Liquid staking service.
- Evaa Protocol: Lending protocol.
- Blum: CeDeFi exchange, one of the 13 projects in Binance Labs’ MVB VII accelerator program.
- Orbit Bridge: A cross-chain communication protocol developed by Orbit Chain, enabling asset transfers from Klaytn, Polygon, Ethereum, Wemix Mainnet, and Orbit Chain to the TON network.
3. Marketplaces:
Numerous DEXs support TON, including well-known platforms like Pancake, Uniswap, 1Inch, and Dodo. Almost all major CEXs have listed TON. The NFT ecosystem is relatively mature. However, when comparing trading volumes of leading TON DEXs like Ston.fi and DeDust against DEXs on ETH and SOL, there remains a significant gap.
- Ston.fi: DEX with native token $STON.
- DeDust: DEX offering similar functionalities to Ston.fi.
- Getgems.io: The most popular NFT marketplace on TON, supporting buying, selling, minting, and transferring NFTs, including Notcoin NFTs, Telegram virtual numbers, and Ton Diamonds.
- Anome: NFT issuance, trading marketplace, and lending protocol.
- Playmuse Marketplace: NFT trading platform.
- Fragment: Official TON platform launched in 2021 for trading Telegram IDs anonymously.
4. Gaming:
Data source: ton.app website
- Tap-to-Earn: Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, Yescoin, Tapswap, etc.
- Pet Simulation Games: Catizen, Gatto, etc.
- Card Games: Fanton, etc.
- MMORPGs: Tap Fantasy, Pixelverse, etc.
- Gaming Platforms: Gamee, etc.
5. Launchpads:
- TonUP: Launchpad platform with token $UP, listed on XT exchange.
- Tonstarter: Launchpad platform backed by DWF Labs, Kingswap, and others.
- XTON: Launchpad platform with token $XTON; low liquidity, not yet listed on centralized exchanges.
- PlatformICO: Simple ICO platform on TON.
6. Social:
- ton.place: Publish exclusive content and send messages to followers to earn rewards.
- TONEX: Social protocol.
- MuggleLink: Freelancer recruitment platform.
7. Tools:
- Tonviewer: Blockchain explorer.
- TonRadar: Information display tool.
- TON Trending: Real-time tracker of high-volume trading pools over 24 hours.
- TONAPI: Developer tools.
8. Ecosystem Support: The Open League (TOL)
To further accelerate ecosystem growth, TON launched The Open League (TOL) in early April this year. This incentive program aims to boost user engagement across the ecosystem, help projects grow their user bases, and develop more attractive and functional products for Telegram’s vast audience. Participants—including developers and users—will receive corresponding rewards. The initiative targets converting Telegram users into Web3 on-chain users, featuring beginner-friendly ways to earn, including low-risk mining activities and tasks, alongside high-risk LP and trading competitions.
TOL spans three seasons, each lasting one month. In the first season in April, TON distributed 30 million $TON tokens as rewards—worth approximately $115 million at the time. Season One included four main categories: The League, Token Mining, Quests & Airdrops, and Liquidity Pool Boosts. Across each season, projects compete across five KPI leaderboards: Token Rankings, Meme & Community Token Rankings, DeFi Rankings, App Rankings, and Liquid Staking Rankings.
Featured projects on the current leaderboard, source: https://ton.org/zh
Since its launch, the TOL program has further energized the TON ecosystem, attracting more developers and users. It has brought massive traffic to participating projects and offered Telegram users a fresh Web3 experience. As subsequent TOL seasons progress, we have strong reasons to believe the TON ecosystem will achieve even greater momentum.
III. Popular Meme Projects in the TON Ecosystem
Tokens on the TON blockchain, known as jettons (similar to ERC20 tokens), experienced rapid development in Q4 2023. Jettons have significantly driven transaction activity and expanded into use cases across DeFi, gaming, and payments.
1. Notcoin (NOT):
The first tap-to-mine memecoin on TON, Notcoin gained widespread attention due to its unique mechanism. Within just a few months of launch, it attracted tens of millions of active users, particularly popular in Russia, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, the U.S., Germany, and Iran. Since its token generation event (TGE) in May, NOT has been listed on nearly all major exchanges, reaching a market cap of nearly $1.5 billion and ranking #56. The founder stated plans to build additional subsystems around Notcoin, potentially including a gaming platform, contests, contributor incentives, or even an AI-powered, decentralized university open to all.
2. TON FISH MEMECOIN (FISH):
The first social meme coin on TON, community-driven and not backed by a foundation. It immediately drew wide attention upon launch and has become the leading meme coin in the TON ecosystem. Having surged multiple times, it's now tradable on the XT exchange. FISH integrates NFTs and gameplay, allowing users to claim free TON FISH BOX NFTs and upgrade them to earn FISH airdrops. In May, the team launched a new game, TON PET, along with a new meme token $TPET.
3. Renaissance Dog (REDO):
A dog-themed meme coin on TON, ranked in the TOL competition. With 100,000 Twitter followers, its account was unexpectedly suspended for unknown reasons. The token is fully circulating, with a market cap of $97 million. It maintains high on-chain transaction activity and strong social media buzz, discussed by notable KOLs, though it has not yet been listed on centralized exchanges.
4. Renaissance Cat (RECA):
A shield-cat-themed meme coin on TON, launched in June. Like REDO, it ranked in the TOL competition and has held first place in the TON TOL league for three consecutive days. With a smaller market cap of $6.5 million, it shows immense potential. It currently runs a referral campaign: share via Telegram bot, and new users can claim 0.2 $RECA daily. Not yet listed on centralized exchanges.
5. GRAM:
The first mining-based meme coin on TON, allowing anyone to mine using simple GPUs, browsers, or even smartphones. It ranked fifth in the first TOL season. Highly active on social media with 200,000 Twitter followers. Currently holds a market cap of $57 million and is listed on Bitget.
IV. Popular Gaming Projects in the TON Ecosystem
According to ton.app, there are currently 128 gaming projects in the TON ecosystem. Starting with Notcoin, a wave of Telegram Mini App tap-to-earn games emerged—simple, fun games where tapping the screen earns airdrops. The popularity of Notcoin, followed by Catizen and Hamster Kombat, greatly boosted TON’s daily active users. Below are several trending Telegram Mini App games:
1. Hamster Kombat
Click invitation link to enter Tg bot:
https://t.me/hamsTer_kombat_bot/start?startapp=kentId6759384023
Hamster Academy—the educational YouTube channel launched by Hamster
Hamster Kombat is a tap-to-earn management simulation game. Daily tasks involve tapping a hamster to earn coins and collecting cards for mining. It gained popularity in Russia through influencer videos on TikTok, bringing in a large number of Web2 users. It reportedly serves over 100 million users. Additionally, Hamster Kombat’s YouTube channel surpassed 10 million subscribers in just seven days. It currently has nearly 10 million Twitter followers and over 40 million subscribers on its official Telegram channel. Reports suggest Hamster will launch its token $HMSTR in July, with XT planning to list HMSTR futures soon.
2. CatizenAI
Click invitation link to enter Tg bot:
https://t.me/catizenbot/gameapp?startapp=rp_19758779
Catizen’s officially released tokenomics
CatizenAI is a Telegram Bot-based cat-raising and fusion game developed by Pluto Studio. The team previously launched Tap Fantasy, their first Telegram Bot-based game in 2023. Backed by the TON Foundation, Catizen launched its beta version in March 2024, reached 260,000 users in April, and surpassed 12 million users by June. It currently has 1.7 million Twitter followers. The team has published its tokenomics, allocating 42% of the total supply for airdrops.
Players raise cats to earn in-game currency and obtain token rewards through various mini-games such as cat fusion, spin-the-wheel, and fishing. The game features a mining mechanism where players earn $wCATI tokens by completing tasks and events.
Additionally, Catizen launched a Launchpool, distributing 840 million $wCATI tokens in its first round in June, with over 24,000 users participating and staking over $39 million. Catizen plans to evolve into a Telegram gaming platform and has signed contracts with 18 popular WeChat mini-games. With funding support from the TON Foundation, the team will leverage its expertise in blockchain integration and TON ecosystem deployment to gradually launch more games on the Catizen platform.
3. Tapswap
Click invitation link to enter Tg bot:
Tapswap is a clone of Notcoin and another tap-to-earn mining game where simple screen taps generate in-game coins with airdrop potential. On June 19, it co-hosted an AMA Space event with the TON Foundation. It currently has 6.02 million Twitter followers and over 22 million Telegram channel subscribers. Hamster Kombat and Tapswap have now become two of the top three largest Telegram channels globally.
4. Yescoin:
Click invitation link to enter Tg bot:
https://t.me/theYescoin_bot
Yescoin is another Telegram Bot-based mini-game. Be careful—there are three different bots named “Yescoin” on Telegram; distinguish them by their icons. It ranked second in the App Competition of The Open League Season Three, just behind Catizen. It currently has 3.1 million Twitter followers and over 20 million users. It is one of the fastest-growing games on TON in recent months. Gameplay is simple—instead of tapping like Notcoin, users swipe the screen to earn points, complete task modes, and collect tokens via swiping gestures.
5. Fanton Fantasy Football:
Click invitation link to enter Tg bot:
https://t.me/FanTonGameBot
Fanton is a play-to-earn football-themed blockchain game that creatively combines NFT technology with football elements, offering fans a new digital collectibles and trading experience. Players can also earn rewards by participating in game activities. It currently has over 400,000 registered users and has received investments from TONcoin.Fund, First Stage Labs, and Tonstarter. The ongoing European Championship has further boosted Fanton’s popularity as a top game on TON.
V. Outlook for the TON Ecosystem
At the Token 2049 Dubai conference this year, the TON Foundation stated that Telegram’s mission is positioned as “freely conducting private communications, self-expression, and building your applications”—a vision that is gradually becoming reality.
TON already hosts a rich array of Mini Apps providing diverse services. Meanwhile, the ecosystem integrates convenient embedded wallets and multiple payment channels, delivering a smoother user experience. This diversified ecosystem development has attracted substantial capital inflows and driven high levels of fund activity. This breakout "wealth effect" will undoubtedly propel TON toward broader and more innovative application scenarios.
Notably, TON is growing at an exceptional pace. Tether continues issuing USDT on TON, while TON itself subsidizes the ecosystem with high deposit rates, quickly ensuring ample liquidity. The integration with Telegram Mini Apps gives TON enormous mass adoption potential. If TON can further address shortcomings in DeFi or find unexpected ways to boost capital activity within the ecosystem, it is poised to deliver even more impressive results.
VI. References:
[1]. https://docs.ton.org/ton.pdf
[2]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegram_Open_Network
[3]. https://ton.org/zh/open-league?filterBy=forProjects
[4]. https://www.techflowpost.com/article/detail_16889.html
[5]. https://www.wublock123.com/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=47&id=19913
[6]. https://coinmarketcap.com/community/zh/articles/66616d8c54b0982fadf3c476/
[7]. https://www.blocktempo.com/history-technology-and-ecological-construction-of-ton-ecology-from-an-investment-perspective/
[8]. https://www.odaily.news/post/5194796
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