Telegram-Linked Toncoin (TON) Nearly Doubles in Price, Kicks Solana Off Top 10 List
Toncoin (TON) has been the crypto market’s star performer - over the last 30 days, the crypto’s price has grown by a whopping 86%. It has now entered the top 10 cryptos by market cap and has pushed Solana (SOL) off the list. In this article, we'll explore Toncoin in detail, shedding light on its history, features, and place in the crypto ecosystem.
Genesis of Toncoin
Toncoin was born in response to the growing demand for an efficient, scalable, and secure blockchain platform. Its roots can be traced back to the highly anticipated Telegram Open Network (TON) project, initiated by Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, one of the world's most popular messaging apps. TON aimed to provide a blockchain infrastructure capable of handling massive transaction volumes with impressive speed and efficiency. However, regulatory hurdles forced Telegram to abandon the project.
In 2018, the Telegram Open Network raised $1.7 billion in a private sale round, only to be sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for violating US securities laws. Worn out by the legal battle with the SEC, Durov announced the decision to decommission the project in May 2020.
Following the shutdown of the Telegram Open Network, two developers, Anatoliy Makosov and Kirill Emelianenko, decided to carry the torch forward by creating Toncoin on the basis of the Telegram Open Network’s original code. Although Telegram was no longer directly involved in the new project, Toncoin remained closely affiliated with the social network. Toncoin shares some of the same goals and principles as the original Telegram Open Network - striving to provide a scalable and secure blockchain environment.
Key Features of Toncoin
1. Scalability. Toncoin's architecture is designed to process thousands of transactions per second, making it ideal for both small-scale transactions and large-scale enterprise applications.
2. Smart Contracts. Like Ethereum, Toncoin supports smart contracts, enabling developers to build decentralised applications (dApps) on its platform.
3. Focus on Decentralisation. Toncoin places a strong emphasis on decentralisation, aiming to empower users and reduce the influence of centralised entities on the network's governance and operation.
4. Community Governance. Toncoin operates on a decentralised autonomous organization (DAO) model, allowing token holders to participate in network governance decisions, such as protocol upgrades and fee adjustments.
Why Is TON Surging?
Before the current surge, the TON coin had been on a confident uptrend between mid-2022 and March 2023. As early as March last year, it was reported that the coin was growing popular among users in Russia, which was hit by Western financial sanctions. This might have acted as an early driver for the coin’s popularity last year.
In March of this year, TON entered a period of mild downtrend that lasted until early-to-mid August. This is when the coin started to rise confidently again. In the last 30 days, TON has appreciated by 86% and has now become the 10th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, bumping Solana (SOL) off the top 10 list.
The association with Telegram has always helped Toncoin’s market prospects. Toncoin’s crypto wallet has long been available on Telegram as a downloadable application. As the crypto’s users on Telegram, particularly in Russia, started to use it more actively, the TON coin received a further boost in price charts. Additionally, a week ago, Telegram announced the closer integration of Toncoin into its ecosystem.
All these recent developments have helped the TON coin perform vastly better than the overall crypto market. The recent announcement by Telegram about closer integration of the coin is of particular importance. As long as Telegram keeps using Toncoin as its preferred crypto for payments and as long as Russia remains under severe financial sanctions, expect TON to be a crypto in high demand.