The team behind The Open Network (TON), the popular blockchain that taps into the Telegram messaging platform, said that it is coming out with its own layer-2 network based on Polygon’s technology. The team made the announcement on Tuesday at the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) in Brussels, Belgium,
The new protocol, called the TON Applications Chain (TAC), will make use of Polygon’s Chain Development Kit (CDK), a customizable toolkit that lets developers create their own layer-2 blockchains based off of Polygon’s zero-knowledge technology, as well as Polygon’s AggLayer, their interoperability layer for solving blockchain fragmentation.
According to a press release shared with CoinDesk, TAC is “designed to enable EVM-based decentralized applications to TON’s ecosystem” while also allowing Ethereum developers to build new programs for Telegram’s users.
“TAC is set to significantly enhance liquidity access and accelerate DeFi adoption for the TON ecosystem,” the TON team wrote in the press release. “Beyond DeFi, TAC will pave the way for a wide range of innovative applications on the TON blockchain, such as gaming, and decentralized identity solutions.”
The news comes as other major blockchain companies have pursued their own layer-2 networks over the past year. In August, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase launched its “Base” blockchain with Optimism’s OP Stack, kicking off the trend. Since then, protocols like Celo and Worldcoin have shared their plans to launch layer-2 rollups with OP Stack, and cryptocurrency exchange OKX also released a layer-2 in April called “X Layer” with Polygon’s CDK.
“We chose to build on the Polygon ecosystem for its EVM compatibility, AggLayer's EVM liquidity bridging, comprehensive deployment support, and Polygon's EVM expertise,” said Pavel Altukhov, the founder of TAC, to CoinDesk over email. “The vibrant community surrounding Polygon was also a crucial factor in our decision.”
Read more: Crypto Exchange OKX's Polygon-Powered Layer 2, 'X Layer,' Hits Public Mainnet