TechFlow Insights
TON is a blockchain platform evolved from the Telegram Open Network. The Telegram Open Network was launched by Telegram in 2017 but had to halt operations due to SEC allegations. Subsequently, the Telegram community self-organized, renamed the network to the Open Network (abbreviated as TON), and continued its development and ecosystem growth. Although Telegram no longer participates in TON's development, the TON network may still gain significant traffic through integration with Telegram. Telegram bots have enabled a paradigm shift in user experience, allowing low-cost, low-barrier entry from Web 2 applications into Web 3.
TON features a multi-layered, multi-chain architecture comprising the masterchain, workchains, and shardchains. The masterchain acts as a central coordinator. Workchains support smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps). Different workchains only need to comply with unified interoperability standards, similar to Polkadot. Within each workchain, shardchains are implemented to enhance scalability and parallel transaction processing, with each shard responsible for a subset of account types.
Use Cases
Payments: Domain names (DNS), data storage, TON proxy, on-chain gas, cross-chain fees, etc.;
Staking: Securing network safety; a portion of tokens from penalized validator nodes will be burned (exact ratio unspecified);
Governance: Currently, the TON ecosystem is led by the TON Foundation, which is 100% community-driven.
Since early 2023, key initiatives by the TON Foundation include: regular liquidity grant rewards;
Universal Accelerator Program. Launched in May 2023 with a funding pool of $25 million. The TON Foundation released lists of projects funded in Q2 and Q3 of 2022 and 2023. According to reports, 31 projects were funded in 2022, 10 in Q2 2023, and 5 in Q3 2023, primarily focused on infrastructure.
Telgram Integration Initiative. In August, the TON Foundation launched the tApps Hub, a platform listing any app supporting the Telegram ecosystem. In September, it introduced a web3 Grant program targeting Telegram-integrated projects, with no total fund size disclosed, but individual grants expected between $20,000 and $50,000.
Although the Telegram team no longer participates in The Open Network's development, there remains a certain level of collaboration, and The Open Network is actively integrating with the Telegram ecosystem. TechFlow is well-suited to leverage high performance as its foundation, using Telegram as a massive traffic gateway to deliver low-barrier use cases, forming its core competitive advantage.
