NEWSLETTER
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The Open Network Foundation is expanding its partnership with Telegram to drive adoption of the TON blockchain.
in your advertisement On January 21, the TON Foundation and Telegram revealed that the TON blockchain will now exclusively support Telegram mini-apps.
As part of this growing ecosystem, popular gaming projects are launching on the Toncoin (TON)-powered blockchain. Tap-to-win games like Hamster Kombat and Notcoin, which gained significant traction on Telegram in 2024, are among the most notable.
What does this mean?
With this expanded collaboration, TON has become the blockchain infrastructure for Telegram mini-apps. Applications that do not currently use TON must transition to the network by February 21, 2025. Projects that choose to migrate will benefit from technical support, optimized user onboarding, and marketing assistance.
The TON Foundation has also introduced grants of up to $50,000 in advertising credits to support project migration efforts.
This collaboration is expected to drive new TON adoption across Telegram's extensive user base of 950 million monthly active users. To facilitate this, TON Connect will become the exclusive wallet for mini apps, except in cases involving bridging.
Open Network initially started as Telegram Open Network in 2017, with Telegram raising $1.7 billion to develop a decentralized blockchain-based platform.
However, following regulatory challenges with the SEC, Telegram abandoned the project in 2020. In 2021, a community of developers revived the initiative and launched the TON blockchain mainnet. By 2023, Telegram and the TON Foundation have partnered to support the network's growth, and Telegram will enable Toncoin payments.
The partnership marks the beginning of TON's next phase of growth, TON Foundation President Manuel Stotz said in a statement.
“After laying the foundation over the past few years, TON is now poised for explosive growth in 2025. The revitalized, deepened and exclusive partnership with Telegram is an important step in our roadmap,” Stotz noted.
Growth initiatives include leveraging the TON blockchain for tokenization of assets such as emojis and stickers. Telegram also plans to introduce tokenized gifts on the blockchain through nfts.
