Original source: CGV Research
Original author: Shigeru
introduction
With the arrival of summer 2024, the TON network has shown unprecedented growth momentum, with daily active addresses, transaction volume, and total locked value (TVL) reaching new highs. This series of achievements indicates that the golden decade of the TON ecosystem has begun. Focusing on the "TON Ecosystem Explosion", the CGV Research team deeply explored TON's internal innovation and external market factors, and analyzed its key driving force to become a leading blockchain platform.
Every day in June 2024, TON’s records, whether in terms of users, transaction volume, or TVL, are constantly being refreshed:
--TON’s daily active addresses have exceeded $ETH for several consecutive days;
--TON’s total locked value (TVL) exceeds $600 million, a 1,000x increase since 2024;
-- In 47 days, $450 million of $USDT was issued on TON;
--Steve, Chairman of the TON Foundation, proposed that the sign of mass adoption of crypto would be the birth of the first TON mini-app with 100 million Telegram users; Hamster Kombat achieved this the next day.
The CGV Research team believes that the arrival of TON summer 2024 benefits from the dual benefits of "TON inside" and "TON outside".
TON’s internal driving force
——Wallet Innovation: In July 2023, TON launched a new wallet payment function, allowing users to conduct various transactions and payments through the TON wallet, improving the user experience. Then in September, TON launched TONSpace, a self-hosted wallet that allows users to manage their own private keys and assets. In December, a secondary entrance to the wallet was added to the Telegram application, allowing users to use the TON wallet more conveniently within Telegram.
——Token lock-up strategy: In early 2023, the TON community and validators decided to freeze the wallets of inactive miners through on-chain voting, which accounted for approximately 21% of the total supply and will be locked until February 2027. In October, the community launched the TON Believers Fund, a five-year lock-up plan where users can choose to donate or deposit their tokens in smart contracts. This move locked 26% of the supply, and a total of approximately 47% of TON tokens were locked for three to five years, effectively reducing the circulating supply on the market and stabilizing token prices.
——TON native USDT deployment: In April 2024, Tether announced the introduction of USDT into the TON network, which added USDT-related transactions and financial activities to TON, providing strong support for DeFi applications. The issuance of USDT on TON quickly surpassed Cosmos and Near, becoming the network second only to Tron, Ethereum, Solana and Avalanche.
- Breakthrough in blockchain performance: On October 31, 2023, TON reached a peak of 104,715 transactions per second in a public live performance test, processing a total of 107,652,545 transactions. This performance was verified by Certik, marking TON as one of the fastest and most scalable blockchains in the world.
——Marketing: In the spring of 2024, TON attracted a large number of users and market attention by launching the#OpenLeagueSuper League with a total prize of $150 million. In addition, the profit-sharing strategy jointly implemented by the TON Foundation and Telegram, as well as the listing of Notcoin on several major exchanges, have greatly enhanced its market performance and brand influence.
TON External Factors
——Pantera’s large investment: In May 2024, Pantera invested the largest single investment amount in history in the TON network. This not only proves the recognition of TON’s technology and market potential, but may also attract more capital attention and enhance the market’s confidence in the TON ecosystem.
——Global competitive environment and market demand: With Musk’s X application planning to launch encrypted payment functions in mid-2024, TON faces pressure from global competitors. In addition, the entire encrypted market is in urgent need of new market narratives and development directions. The TON ecosystem relies on its innovative technologies and applications to inject new vitality into the market.
——Demand for new narratives: The crypto industry needs new narratives and directions. The TON ecosystem provides new vitality to the market through the growth of users and transaction volumes brought about by social fission and flywheel effect.
In summary, the CGV Research team believes that the TON ecosystem may show four major development trends in the future. These trends will shape the unique position of the TON ecosystem and may have a profound impact on the entire crypto industry.
Trend 1: The black hole effect brought by Telegram’s full ecosystem expansion
Telegram started out as an instant messaging tool and has now grown into a multi-functional platform that integrates social, payment, service subscription, and mini-programs. With the addition of TON, Telegram is rapidly moving along a similar trajectory.
Upstream (Infrastructure and Development Platform): TON provides powerful infrastructure and software development kits (SDKs) to attract developers to build and deploy decentralized applications (DApps), which may undermine the development resources of other blockchain platforms.
Midstream (application layer and services): customized stablecoin solutions, micropayment systems, etc. in the TON ecosystem, as well as the ability to seamlessly access mainstream crypto assets through the official cross-chain bridge, providing users with a one-stop asset management and trading platform.
Downstream (user adoption and market expansion): Telegram’s large user base provides TON with a market access point, enabling it to integrate crypto technology into the broader economy by building relationships with partners such as financial institutions, media companies, and retailers.
Trend 2: No regulatory barriers + fastest public chain + flywheel effect, making TON ecosystem unlimited
TON’s global service capabilities, free from the restrictions of financial regulation in specific countries or regions, combined with its high performance and the flywheel effect of user growth, indicate that the potential of the TON ecosystem may have no upper limit.
Traffic monetization: Telegram’s traffic advantage will bring huge monetization potential to TON, especially in decentralized markets such as Fragment, which has already contributed to significant transaction volume.
NFT Market: Telegram’s stickers converted into NFTs and traded through the TON blockchain heralds a huge emerging market.
Web3 Project Revenue Realization: Mini apps on TON are expected to become high-revenue Web3 projects, leveraging their large daily active user base.
Trend 3: Joining of global financial giants: Mainstream recognition of TON ecosystem
As the TON platform matures and cross-chain functions are realized, it may attract the attention of traditional financial institutions, prompting them to explore blockchain technology and cooperate with TON.
Innovation in Financial Services: Financial institutions may migrate their services to TON or collaborate with TON to take advantage of its low cost and high efficiency.
Stablecoins and Financial Products: Financial institutions may develop new lending, insurance, and investment products on TON, and even create stablecoins pegged to specific assets.
Trend 4: Changes in investment logic: The non-essentiality of token economy
The maturity of the TON ecosystem may change the investment logic of the primary market, making tokens no longer a must for crypto projects.
Technology and business model: Projects may rely on more mature technology and business models to attract users and investors rather than relying solely on token economics.
Regulatory adaptability: Projects that do not issue tokens may find it easier to adapt to the regulatory environment and avoid potential legal risks.
Investment Analysis: Future evaluations of TON ecosystem projects may focus more on actual user data and business performance, such as daily active users (DAU), user retention, and average revenue per user (ARPU), rather than simply focusing on the unlocking and distribution of tokens.
These trends indicate that the TON ecosystem will not only consolidate its position in the crypto field, but may also attract the participation of a wider user group and traditional financial institutions, ushering in a new stage of development.
Conclusion
The rise of the TON ecosystem heralds the future development direction of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. With the deep integration of Telegram and the innovation driven by TON, we foresee that a new ecosystem is taking shape, which will not only change our understanding of financial services, social interactions and digital assets, but also bring unprecedented convenience and opportunities to users around the world.
About Cryptogram Venture (CGV)
CGV (Cryptogram Venture) is a crypto investment institution headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Since 2017, its funds and predecessor funds have participated in the investment of more than 200 projects, including investment in the licensed Japanese yen stablecoin JPYW. At the same time, CGV is a limited partner of many world-renowned crypto funds. Since 2022, CGV has successfully held two Japan Web3 Hackathons (TWSH), which have been jointly supported by institutions and experts such as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, Keio University, and NTT Docomo. Currently, CGV has branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, Toronto and other places. In addition, CGV is one of the founding members of the Bitcoin Tokyo Club in Tokyo, Japan.
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