The Open Network Blockchain (TON) is currently one of the most talked about blockchains in the crypto industry due to the sheer size of projects being launched on it and the success of such projects.
The Open network was developed by two Russian brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov who also happened to be the founders of the popular social messenger app Telegram.
The Open Network was initially called the Telegram Open Network (TON) before the name was changed to just The Open Network by its founders.
The Open Network (TON) is a decentralized, high-performance blockchain platform originally developed by Telegram and is currently leading a massive onboarding of new users into crypto due to its strategic alignment with Telegram.
The strategic combination of Telegram, a social media messenger app founded by two Russian brothers in 2013, and the TON blockchain is driving a massive onboarding of new users in Web 3 who are actively seeking to engage the projects built on the TON blockchain and existing as Telegram Mini Apps.
The Telegram and TON blockchain strategic alliance
The Telegram app created in 2013 has acquired a global user base of 950 million users. A recent poll revealed that one out of every four internet users use Telegram.
In 2018, Telegram founders developed The Open Network (TON) as part of its diversification into the blockchain and crypto industry.
Telegram’s diversification into the blockchain industry with the TON blockchain tackled the problem of mass adoption which has plagued the crypto industry since its inception.
The crypto and blockchain industry has been plagued by the challenge of a high barrier of entry for new users due to its technical nature.
The technical nature of most crypto projects has kept the average everyday man away from it. This has restricted the idea of cryptocurrency to a fringe section of the global demographics that are advanced technically.
Telegram with its launching of the TON blockchain solved this issue by simplifying crypto and lowering the entry barrier for new users who actively engage the TON blockchain via their Telegram app.
Telegram’s diversification into Crypto with the TON blockchain is at the center of bridging the world of Web2 and Web3.
The alliance between Telegram and the TON blockchain brings cryptocurrency to the fingertips of the existing 950 million Telegram users marking the single biggest onboarding opportunity in the crypto space.
The relationship between these two entities breeds user familiarity and comfort in the crypto space and also significantly expands the potential applications of TON’s blockchain by making it accessible to Telegram’s user base without the need for separate applications or complex interfaces.
This alliance is highlighted in the massive success of Play to Earn crypto projects like Hamster Kombat and Notcoin both hosted on the TON blockchain and succeeded in introducing the concept of cryptocurrency to millions of everyday users.
Telegram users are now crypto literate with most of them having already-made crypto wallet addresses for storing crypto assets. The User interface encourages sending crypto assets to other users by an action as simple as sending a text message
Telegram’s easy UX, together with its strategic alliance with TON blockchain is a breath of fresh air from the UX of other crypto platforms and harbours the potential to actually attract the average internet user to crypto.
Ton Blockchain and Telegram Mini Apps
At the driving seat of the massive adoption created by the TON blockchain and Telegrams alliance is a Telegram feature known as Telegram mini apps.
Telegram Mini Apps (TMAs) are web applications that run inside Telegram and allow developers to build web applications directly in the Telegram app using major web programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
These TMA’s developed are available in the Telegram Apps Center a Mini App accessible via a dedicated bot on Telegram.
Telegram debuted the Mini Apps platform in 2023 and in 2024, Telegram enabled developers to start integrating the TON blockchain into the development of Telegram Mini apps.
The TON blockchain’s fast transactions and low fees were a big sell to Telegram’s massive userbase of over 950 million people.
The above combination gave rise to successful Telegram-based games that existed as TMA’s. These games include projects like Hamster Kombat, Notcoin, and Yescoin.
Hamster Kombat, A telegram Mini APP hosted on the TON blockchain went on to become arguably the biggest Play to Earn Crypto game in the industry with over 300 million players.
These 300 million players were mostly everyday internet users who would not have joined the crypto ship if not for Telegram’s Mini app and its existing TON blockchain.
Hamster Kombat is a good example of how the TON blockchain in alliance with Telegram drives wide-scale adoption of crypto.
Conclusion
The mission statement of Telegram’s blockchain TON is to “Put Crypto into every pocket,” .The statement indicates that the TON blockchain is on a mission to bring the world to cryptocurrency.
As more apps with different utilities are hosted on the TON blockchain, Telegram its native ecosystem will continue to appeal to different subsets of the global userbase driving crypto adoption.
Image credit: RockandBlock