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Telegram has officially taken a dominant role in The Open Network (TON), replacing the TON Foundation as the blockchain’s primary driving force. Telegram founder Pavel Durov said the messaging company will become TON’s largest validator, a move that helped trigger a sharp rally in Toncoin (TON), which surged more than 100%.
The announcement is described as the third phase of Durov’s “Make TON Great Again” initiative and signals Telegram’s long-term commitment to building a large crypto ecosystem around TON. Investors see the development as a step toward integrating blockchain services directly into Telegram’s network of more than one billion users.
Alexander Tobol, chief technology officer at Wallet in Telegram, said TON was initially created by Telegram’s internal team before evolving into an independent open-source blockchain project. Telegram’s decision to secure the largest validator position by staking roughly 2.2 million TON is presented as evidence of deeper involvement in the network’s future and security.
The integration could position TON as a default blockchain layer for payments, transfers, mini-apps, and digital services within Telegram. Tobol also suggested this approach could make TON the blockchain with the highest number of active retail wallets globally.
Recent network upgrades are also cited as improving TON’s competitiveness. Denis Vasin, founder of Storm Trade, highlighted that the Catchain 2.0 upgrade reduced block times from 2.5 seconds to 400 milliseconds and lowered transaction finality to nearly one second. He also said transaction fees reportedly fell to around $0.0005, while the network can now process more than 100,000 transactions per second.
Analysts argue TON now has an advantage over competing Layer-1 blockchains due to Telegram’s large built-in user base and real-world utility. Market experts, however, caution that the recent Toncoin rally may already reflect elevated expectations. They said future price growth will depend on whether Telegram can sustain on-chain activity and generate long-term economic value through TON-powered services and applications.
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