Meme shifts direction, Ton ecosystem becomes new FOMO battleground
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
Meme shifts direction, Ton ecosystem becomes new FOMO battleground
After Notcoin went viral, "Tap to Earn" projects on the TON ecosystem gained significant attention, with popular ones including Hamster Kombat and Catizen.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Asher Zhang, TechFlow
With the recent market recovery, speculative sentiment has once again risen across the crypto space. Among the most notable developments is the surge in attention toward the TON ecosystem. Notably, meme tokens that previously gained popularity on Solana are now gaining traction within the TON ecosystem. Beyond NOT, other trending projects include Hamster Kombat, Catizen, and DOGS—each attracting widespread interest immediately upon launch. What makes the TON ecosystem so appealing? And what other promising projects are emerging within this ecosystem?
Meme Frenzy Shifts: TON Emerges as the New Battleground
Since the beginning of this year, the TON ecosystem has experienced rapid growth, with meme tokens and mini-applications showing explosive momentum. This expansion is closely tied to TON’s technical advantages and the vast user base of Telegram.
TON employs a unique multi-layer, multi-chain architecture designed for high speed and scalability. The architecture consists of the masterchain, workchains, and shardchains. The masterchain serves as the core of the entire network, while workchains support smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps). Workchains are further divided into multiple shardchains, each handling a subset of accounts, thereby enhancing scalability and transaction throughput. Leveraging sharding technology and efficient routing mechanisms, TON can process millions of transactions per second with low latency and minimal costs—providing the foundational infrastructure behind Notcoin’s success. Earlier integration between Telegram and TON enabled Notcoin to rapidly acquire users through Telegram’s platform. With over 900 million active users, Telegram significantly outpaces its competitors; its monthly download volume is nearly ten times that of Signal, reaching 36.7 million downloads in January alone this year.
Howard, Head of Developer Relations for Asia at the TON Foundation, noted that 99% of participants are currently focused on mini-apps and click-to-earn or tap-to-earn models—potentially paving the way for Web3's first breakout mainstream applications. Moreover, the true potential of TON and Telegram lies in their ability to integrate DeFi with social functionality. In the future, TON is likely to see substantial growth in DeFi and other on-chain applications.
Spotlight on Key Projects in the TON Ecosystem
Notcoin is arguably the flagship project of the TON ecosystem and has received recognition from major exchanges and the official TON team. Its game code is open-source, and its gamified design—such as click-to-mine mechanics—allows users to earn cryptocurrency through simple yet engaging interactions, boosting participation and loyalty. Since launching on January 1, 2024, it has seen exponential growth, with over 30 million participants and 5 million daily active users. Following Notcoin’s success, tap-to-earn projects on TON have drawn significant attention, including hits like Hamster Kombat and Catizen.
Hamster Kombat
Hamster Kombat is a tap-to-earn game on TON that simulates being the CEO of a cryptocurrency exchange. Players tap a hamster on screen to accumulate points. The game offers multiple reward pathways and encourages community engagement and collaboration to unlock additional benefits—such as acquiring and synthesizing special cards, daily check-ins, following official social media accounts, and inviting friends—to earn extra points and increase earning speed. According to official data, Hamster Kombat has surpassed 200 million registered users, with over 48 million followers on Telegram, 31.5 million YouTube subscribers, and more than 11 million Twitter followers—indicating an enormous and highly engaged user base.
Catizen
Catizen is a click-and-idle cat-raising blockchain game developed by Pluto Studio, serving as the first title on its GameFi platform. Positioned at the intersection of casual gaming and innovative breakthroughs, Catizen introduces a “PLAY-TO-AIRDROP” model. As stated by the team, “the user journey isn’t just a game—it’s a treasure hunt for tokens across the vast feline universe.” Thanks to its adorable cat-themed visuals and unique gameplay, Catizen quickly attracted a large player base and grew rapidly, nearing 20 million registrations within just two months. Official data shows that by June 23, Catizen had surpassed 1.25 million on-chain users.
Pixelverse
Pixelverse is a cyberpunk-themed entertainment studio and gaming platform where players enter as freelancers, engaging in missions, PvE battles, building and upgrading robots, and battling others in arenas. Pixelverse aims to lower the entry barrier into Web3, offering true ownership of in-game assets and rewarding loyal players, while delivering an immersive experience tailored for Web2 gamers.
Recently, Pixelverse announced a $5.5 million funding round led by Delphi Ventures, Merit Circle, and Mechanism Capital. Other investors include Bitscale Capital, Ghaf Capital, Big Brain Holdings, LiquidX, Foresight Ventures, Sébastien Borget (co-founder of The Sandbox), Luca Netz, Dingaling, DCF GOD, Grail, and James Kwon.
DOGS
Following the viral success of projects like Hamster Kombat (featuring hamsters) and Catizen (cats), DOGS recently surged in popularity. The black-and-white dog形象 in DOGS was inspired by Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, who originally sketched the iconic dog named Spotty during a charity auction supporting an orphanage. According to official Telegram channels, DOGS is far more than a commemorative token. The team brings the tradition of Spotty into the crypto world, creating a fun, community-driven, and truly unique cryptocurrency. Riding on the momentum of the thriving TON ecosystem, DOGS addresses the current lack of representative meme figures. By airdropping tokens to Telegram users, DOGS attracted over 1 million subscribers in just one day, with daily content views exceeding one million—an astonishing growth rate.
Blum
Blum is a hybrid trading platform founded by a former Binance executive. It launched its Telegram mini-app on April 19, though full trading functionality remains pending. Users can earn points via Farm and Drop games, and inviting new users grants Drop game tickets and bonus points. Blum has already surpassed 30 million users and ranks among the top 6 channels globally on Telegram’s weekly leaderboard.
Travel Frog
Travel Frog is a pet-raising mini-game on Telegram. During its beta phase, it has attracted over 40,000 active in-game users and more than 27,000 Telegram group subscribers. Similar to the popular Web2 game *Travel Frog*, players prepare travel packs with lunch items for their frog, collect letters, and host visitors. Clover earned in-game can later be exchanged for TON. Gameplay includes: receiving a free frog; tapping the door every two hours to collect clover from a pond; using collected clover to buy items placed in three slots at the bottom-left; and sending the frog on a 15-minute trip.
HypeSaints
HypeSaints is a TON-based game reminiscent of "handheld console + cartridge" systems. STEPN was a key investor in the project’s seed round. Currently available only on Telegram’s mobile app, players receive a free TON HypeGear upon entry. By continuously tapping the HypeGear, players earn points, which can be used to upgrade their gear or interact with it.
Majyo Treasure
Majyo Treasure is a placement-based combat mini-game that entered public testing from June 21 to July 10. Players earn points and improve rankings by defeating Majyo Bosses, engaging in PvP duels, or joining group raids. A prize pool of $10,000 was offered during the test phase, with higher-ranked players receiving larger shares.
Balaton.bet
Balaton.bet operates similarly to the Joker card game. Players pay either 20 or 40 points to join, receiving 2–3 poker cards. As more players enter, the prize pool grows. When the countdown ends, the dealer reveals five cards. Players combine their hand with the dealer’s to form the best possible Texas Hold’em hand and score accordingly. The top 10% of scorers split 50% of the prize pool, while ranks 10%–35% share 35%. The remaining players receive nothing, and 15% is retained as treasury fees. Additionally, users can earn points via daily check-ins, friend referrals, and platform-based clicking (Farming).
TypoCurator
TypoCurator is an AI data annotation mini-app launched on TON by TypoX AI, a Web3 AI search platform. Within one week of launch, it completed over 500,000 data annotations and attracted more than 12,000 testers. TypoCurator combines tap-to-earn mechanics with AI training tasks—users complete labeling quizzes within Telegram’s mini-app and earn TPX rewards. Each user starts with one task quota (20 questions). Additional quotas can be obtained by inviting new users or purchasing them with TPX.
Lucky Draw Master
Lucky Draw Master is a Telegram bot enabling users to conduct lotteries and send红包 using tokens such as USDT, TON, and NOT. Its user base primarily comes from Russia, Brazil, and India. Project teams can use Lucky Draw Master to set marketing conditions—like joining a channel or following social media—for lottery entries. Users can also participate in coin mining activities, earning MoCoin through check-ins and task completion, which can later be redeemed for USDT红包.
Conclusion
With the strategic partnership between Telegram and TON, the TON ecosystem has grown rapidly this year—particularly in mini-applications and meme projects, which have captured strong market attention. Leveraging Telegram’s massive user base, TON-based mini-apps can quickly scale to millions of users. As TON’s native token and ecosystem projects continue to evolve, market interest continues to rise. The ecosystem is expected to maintain robust growth and may emerge as a dark horse in this bull cycle.
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
比推 BitpushNews
