Telegram's total revenue for 2024 is expected to reach at least $971 million and could surpass the $1 billion mark, thanks to the synergy of TON. This article is sourced from a piece written by Animoca Brands Research (TON Part 2: A win-win outcome from one year of partnership), compiled and translated by Chain Catcher. (Background: Early core members of TON recount the 10 key contributions that influenced the early development of TON) (Context: Telegram's revenue in the first half of the year exceeded $500 million, a 190% year-on-year increase, with the growth of TON's value and subscription systems being key factors) Original title: TON Part 2: A win-win outcome from one year of partnership Key questions: How is TON progressing towards the goal of bringing 500 million users into cryptocurrency? What strategies is the TON Foundation adopting to elevate the ecosystem to a higher level? What benefits has Telegram gained from its partnership with TON? Table of Contents Introduction Three-step strategy Step 1: Promotion of 'Earn by Tapping' social games to bring users into Telegram Mini Apps Step 2: Converting Mini-App players into cryptocurrency holders through token airdrops Step 3: Retaining cryptocurrency users through DeFi applications Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and Catizen Growth of the TON blockchain Activity Total Value Locked (TVL) Comparison with other Layer 1s Summary of TON Telegram's success Features related to the collaboration with TON Growth in popularity of the Telegram platform Impact on Telegram's profitability Conclusion TL;DR In September 2023, the TON Foundation and Telegram announced a strategic partnership aimed at bringing 30% of Telegram's active users into the TON ecosystem by 2028. As an infrastructure layer, TON utilizes Telegram Mini-App to cover and attract Telegram's massive user base. The success of Notcoin has paved the way for enabling Mini-App users through social games. Subsequently, users gradually engage with cryptocurrency through airdrops of game tokens and meme coins. To support this growth, the foundation leveraged TON Grants, The Open League, and offline events to achieve its goals. By July 2024, the monthly active users (MAU) of Telegram Mini Apps reached 500 million, driving Telegram's overall MAU to a new high of 950 million. As of October, 30 million users have successfully entered the cryptocurrency space. The high engagement rate of Telegram Mini Apps not only enhanced user participation on the Telegram platform but also significantly increased platform revenue, particularly through higher-tier account subscriptions and exclusive use of Toncoin on the advertising platform. Telegram is expected to achieve its first profitable year in 2024, with total revenue potentially reaching $1 billion. To further accelerate ecosystem growth, the TON Foundation is transitioning from a centralized governance model to a community-driven funding allocation model through 'Society DAO'. This shift aims to foster more development and innovation within the ecosystem. Introduction In September 2023, the TON Foundation deepened its collaboration with Telegram, aiming to bring 30% of Telegram's active users into the TON on-chain ecosystem by 2028. Since the announcement, the TON Foundation has been committed to nurturing the Telegram Mini-App (TMA) ecosystem, positioning Mini-Apps as the gateway for existing Telegram users to enter the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This collaboration enables TON to reach over 900 million Telegram users. For Telegram, the community activities organized by the TON Foundation have become a core market expansion force for the Mini-App ecosystem, filling the market gap created by the company's streamlined operations. This article will explore the journey and impact that the two parties have experienced since their collaboration. Three-step strategy In the partnership announcement, it was stated that Mini Apps serve as an intermediary layer connecting TON infrastructure with Telegram's Web2 user base. Successfully implementing this strategy requires addressing three key questions: How to attract Telegram users into Mini Apps? How to convert Mini-App users into cryptocurrency users? How to retain these cryptocurrency users in the long term? Jack Booth, former Head of Market Development at the TON Foundation and co-founder of TON Society, shared insights on this strategy during a podcast interview in August 2023: 'We engage everyone through 'Earn by Tapping', and then some users can easily conduct global cryptocurrency transactions via DM. Next, a portion of these users will start using more complex DeFi products on TON. This is the logic behind the entire plan.' In summary, the foundation's answers to the above questions are: Promote 'Earn by Tapping' social games to attract users into Telegram Mini Apps. Convert Mini-App players into cryptocurrency users through token airdrops. Retain cryptocurrency users with the help of DeFi applications. In practice, this three-step strategy is more of a retrospective summary of a community-driven innovation development process rather than a top-down execution plan. Next, we will delve into these three components in detail. Step 1: Promote 'Earn by Tapping' social games to attract users into Telegram Mini Apps After initiating the collaboration with Telegram, the TON Foundation actively promoted the development related to Mini-Apps through its community interaction channels. By the third quarter of 2024, GameFi projects began to appear among the funded projects of TON Grants, alongside traditional on-chain functionality projects. This change indicates that the foundation has recognized the significant potential of game development in driving the popularity of Mini-Apps. In January 2024, the first phenomenon-level Mini-App game, Notcoin, was launched. This 'Earn by Tapping' social game quickly became a hotspot on Telegram, attracting 35 million users even before its TGE. Interestingly, Notcoin originated entirely from community innovation and was not initially included in the foundation's plans. However, its success prompted the foundation to incorporate social games into its key funding areas. In the first half of 2024, projects receiving funding...