Today we will consider the very topical project in the field of blockchain – The Open Network (TON). You may have heard of Telegram Messenger, however did you know that they have their own layer one blockchain? The first thing we probably should do is go back in time.
The Birth of The Open Network
It was started when the Telegram Messenger team started searching for blockchain solutions which they can integrate seamlessly with their messaging platform while scaling their users. When they were not able to locate one that seemed appropriate, they constructed their own. Led by the Durov Brothers, who first unveiled the Telegram Open Network (TON) and its cryptocurrency Gram in 2018, It was launched amidst great fanfare and generated an incredible USD 1.7 billion in a token sale, ultimately becoming one of the most successful cryptocurrency ICOs to date.
Legal Challenges and Rebirth
Armed with this backing AND funding, the Telegram team went about constructing their new layer one blockchain. However, right when TON was about to launch, the SEC brought suit against Telegram alleging it had issued unregistered securities. The SEC sued Pavel, however a legal fight ensued that was only until 2020 when Telegram finally decided to exit the project after paying an enormous $18.5 million penalty to the SEC. The team issued refunds to investors and stopped development of TON and support of its testnet, often referred to as Testnet 2.
TON’s code was open-source and widely accessible on GitHub, meaning anyone could contribute. Deciding that the project had too much potential to waste, a small team of developers led by Anatoly Makov, a software developer, and Karel Emelano, a programmer with a PhD in physics and mathematics, stepped in and continued TON’s development. Both developers are still part of the TON Foundation team and handle core development. While the current network is completely independent from Telegram, in 2021, Pavel expressed his happiness that the project would continue and wished the new team success.
From Testnet to Mainnet: A New Beginning
Fast forward to 2021, and the Telegram Open Network got a small makeover. The original Testnet 2 by the Telegram team became Mainnet. The new TON team was rebranded to TON Foundation, and the whole project was renamed to The Open Network, an effort to keep its name as TON.
How TON Works: The Technology Behind the Network
TON uses a combination of a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism, sharding, and a virtual machine to ensure that it is fast, flexible, and cost-effective. Because of this, TON claims it can support millions of users and process millions of transactions per second. The highest record is from 2021 when it processed 55,000 transactions per second.
- Sharding: A newer approach to scalability, splits the network into interconnected pieces that still run independently, allowing multiple transactions to run in parallel. TON also implements dynamic sharding, meaning the network can split or merge these pieces depending on the network’s load.
- Virtual Machine: TON’s fee model charges the contract developer instead of users to fund operations. Each smart contract holds a TON token balance, which it uses to pay for its own resource cost. Another example is the asynchronous architecture that the TON Network uses to process multiple transactions independently from each other.
Integration with Telegram: A Unique Advantage
In a unique characteristic, TON is distinguished from other L1 blockchain solutions by its unique ability to intertwine with the broader Telegram user base. By 2022, the app had reached more than 700 million monthly active users, with projections for more than 1 billion by the end of 2023.
Since day one, part of the white paper was seamlessly bridging blockchain technologies and distributed services to the everyday user.
Key Features and Innovations
- Self-Custodial TON-Based Crypto Wallet: Users can now send, receive, buy, and swap TON Coin directly within Telegram. Following the announcement at the Token 2049 event in Singapore, the price of TON increased by nearly 7% and continued to climb up to 43% over the next few days. However, at the time of shooting, it has returned a fair bit of its gains.
- TON Storage: A decentralized file storage solution.
- TON Proxy: Safeguards your IP address.
- TON DNS: Allows renaming your TON wallet address to human-readable names.
- TON Payments: Enables seamless transactions.
- TON Bridge: Connects with different blockchain networks.
These features aim to make crypto more accessible to the masses through a simple messaging platform that is Telegram.
The Super App Vision
Telegram’s ambitious plans seem to mimic WeChat’s model. WeChat, with well over 1 billion monthly active users, earned the title of the first super app by seamlessly integrating instant messaging with a digital wallet, then expanding its services to include games, live streams, e-commerce, and more. If TON and Telegram follow this trajectory, they have quite the journey ahead.
TON Coin: The Heart of The Open Network
TON Coin, or TON, is the native utility token of The Open Network. In transaction fees, staking and paying for gas It’s worth mentioning that TON is a DAO (Decjsonal tokenslized Autonomous Organization) and holders of TON cryptocurrency can vote for any proposal. TON Coin has a maximum supply of 5 billion TON, and at the time of this video, 3.4 billion TON are in circulation. TON is also used to pay for TON DNS and TON Storage, but TON Proxy is currently not yet available. Decentralized applications on the network are also integrating TON as their base currency.
Developer and Community Growth
The TON Foundation has been actively working on growing the blockchain. This week, TON (Telegram Open Network) has published its Developers Report for Q2 2023 with an increasing developer activity of 6.56 % from Q1 this year. There have been numerous programs and challenges running in a bid to be part of the community. Additionally integrated in the network’s roadmap are plans to incorporate other cryptocurrencies within the TON ecosystem, with bridges set to be established with Ethereum, Binance Coin, and Bitcoin.
Security and Accessibility Concerns
While the open network brings advanced scalability solutions, rapid transaction processing, and enhanced cross-chain communication, it also comes with potential trade-offs. The TON space wallet, for instance, abstracts away the need for users to store their private keys during wallet creation, which raises concerns about the term “self-custodial wallet.” The ease of access to crypto also opens the floodgates to the common masses, which can lead to increased vulnerability to potential scams, especially for everyday users with minimal crypto knowledge.
Conclusion
There you have it—a whirlwind tour of The Open Network. Are you excited to see what lies ahead for this layer one and potential super app? Let us know in the comments below.
