The second part of Sasha Notkoin's big interview for App Journal. In the first part (Where it all began. Notpixel. We don't work with casinos.READ👈 )
— How do you see TON developing over the next five years? What key challenges and opportunities do you see for its growth?
— I think that the millions of users who got acquainted with cryptocurrency through TON, mini-apps and Telegram are just beginning to understand cryptography.
Why?
Because it takes time for people to trust blockchain, understand it, and understand how it works. It took me 1-2 years to understand this, even working full time in the field.
If it is not full time, then this path can take 3-4 years.
So those who have already joined will likely start actively using blockchain, crypto and TON in 1-2 years, and the results could be huge.
Even if we stop attracting new users now.
I believe that TON is destined to become the largest, most popular and most accessible blockchain in this sense.
And it's not just because of my deep affection for him; I think it's inevitable. How the projects will develop is something I can't yet foresee.
— In your opinion, what are the main factors that will determine the development of TON in the coming years, and what token price do you consider realistic in the long term, say, in five years?
- Let's think about it.
We will likely be in part of the next cycle, possibly with a high valuation. In addition, there are several factors: TON is a cryptocurrency, and cryptocurrency is a means of preserving and increasing wealth that people use.
The first question is: Will people stop striving to increase and accumulate wealth? I don’t think that will happen; I don’t see a scenario in which people will give up the desire to increase and safely store their wealth.
The second question is: Will they stop using cryptocurrency for these purposes? Given how slowly traditional financial institutions are changing – classic banks that operate the same way they did 20 years ago – this is unlikely.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain remain a way to make fast and seamless transfers across borders. This is critical for businesses, as their survival often depends on it. From a convenience standpoint, they will continue to use it.
Third question: Storing money. Personally, I can't imagine a scenario where I would rather keep my money in a bank than trust it to something like Bitcoin.
Especially after what we all saw and experienced in the former Soviet Union. We all had, so to speak, an “inoculation” against mistrust of structures, especially financial ones.
Telegram's strategy seems to be to make the product better and wait for everyone else to make mistakes. It's a good marketing strategy to just wait.
This is a great strategy because by simply creating a better product and waiting, you save energy that can be used for other purposes.
WhatsApp and other messaging apps are hard to displace, but creating a convenient, fast, and reliable product is enough to attract millions of users who will abandon other apps because they break, sell data, or simply become obsolete compared to Telegram.
At TON, we need to build better products and wait until people start using them instead of traditional financial solutions.
There is a good chance that Bitcoin will remain a store of value asset as it originally was.
This is why I believe L1 tokens and system coins/blockchain coins are strong candidates for growth, with a market cap comparable to Ethereum.
I expect that the TON community will increasingly trust the blockchain over time and transfer liquidity to it.
I don't believe that after using TON they will switch to EVM - it's complicated: switching to MetaMask, paying for gas. After TON Keeper, where gas is integrated into transfers, and fees are calculated automatically, switching to Trust Wallet will not be easy.
The demand and popularity of TON is likely to grow.
I don't fully understand the mechanics and math behind TON tokenomics. I don't know how many tokens are held by investors, validators, or other players who could theoretically influence the price.
The good news, however, is that we have already seen $8 and that level has not fallen immediately. Such levels are not considered an urgent “sale”, so $15-25 seems like a reasonable horizon given the price increase. Perhaps even with the current price increase, if we are lucky.
Sasha's Notcoin quickly became the driving force behind the mass adoption of TON, demonstrating that in Web3 it is possible to create not just a platform, but an entire community around a single idea.
With his unique approach, he turned complex crypto instruments into an accessible and understandable product for millions of people.
And while Notcoin serves as a gateway to TON for thousands of users, Sasha continues to explore new directions – developing games, communities, and technology solutions that further expand the horizons of the TON ecosystem and open up even greater possibilities in Web3.
There is a lot of talk about revolutions in the Web3 world, but it seems that Notcoin is already setting the tone, turning a multitude of ideas into a rapid movement that is accelerating every day.
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