The most talked about topic in crypto in recent months has been the proliferation of The Open Network (TON) blockchain and its native token, Toncoin.
Initially developed in 2018 by the eponymous encrypted messaging app, TON was described as a platform for decentralized applications and services.
TON’s connection to the Telegram messaging app helps to capture the attention of the latter’s audience, and with a simple connection process, it’s easy for Telegram users to start exploring the TON blockchain.
Another important factor is the TON Foundation’s focus on building a strong ecosystem. Grants and the TON Open League offer incentives for applications to develop the blockchain.
In recent months, the blockchain has seen massive growth as a number of viral applications based on the network have taken off. Here are some of the most popular:
DeDust
DeDust is a decentralized exchange launched in November 2022 as a non-fungible token (NTF) marketplace that has since expanded.Today, the project has become a full-fledged exchange platform where users can exchange cryptocurrencies and generate income from the liquidity of tokens. At the moment, DeDust is one of the largest decentralized applications in the TON ecosystem, with $30.5 million in daily trading volume. Users can exchange assets directly through an intuitive exchange interface after connecting to a compatible TON wallet such as Tonkeeper, Tonhub or others. The exchange process is simple and requires no additional authorizations or permissions. Other useful features include a decentralized portfolio tracker that keeps track of the assets stored in users’ wallets. DeDust also offers passive income opportunities through staking its own token called SCALE, through which users get a share of the platform’s commission fees. SCALE’s one-way staking program offers a daily reward that depends on the amount of staked tokens and the volume of fees earned on the exchange.SCALE maintains the staking program by using revenue from the protocol to repurchase SCALE and distribute it to participants. SCALE can be traded on Dedust, STON.fi and BingX.Notcoin Notcoin was first launched in November 2023 and quickly gained popularity. In May 2024, Notcoin was officially listed on several centralized exchanges after distributing over 80 billion tokens to users and acquiring a market capitalization of over $900 million. Since then, its market capitalization has grown to an all-time high of $2.8 billion.By July 2024, the project had attracted more than 30 million users. Notcoin rewards players for completing tasks, which mainly include game quests with on-screen clickers and a points system. Players can also increase their earnings by inviting friends to the game, logging into the app regularly and joining teams. Vincent Maliepaard, marketing director at analytics platform IntoTheBlock, told Cointelegraph, “I personally tried the game and found it to be an innovative and engaging way to attract new users to the crypto space. The tap-to-earn model is simple yet addictive, allowing users to earn in-game currency that can be converted into real tokens on the TON blockchain.”Tonstakers Tonstakers is the leading protocol for staking in the TON network and an open-source, decentralized platform for liquid staking — a very popular trend for traders on decentralized finance platforms. Liquid staking is a process in which a user locks the “basic” token and receives a derivative liquidity staking token in return, which can be sold on secondary markets.Players who stake on Tonstakers receive tsTON — a derivative of Toncoin (TON) — which is a revenue-generating token that accrues rewards over time according to the applicable average percentage yield.
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A Hamster CEO. Source: Hamster Kombat
Wallet appears in the main settings bar on Telegram. Source: Telegram
Users can send and receive crypto, top-up crypto with their bank card, and exchange crypto through a peer-to-peer marketplace. A key feature of the wallet is the commission-free instant transfer of cryptocurrencies between Telegram users in chats. The wallet is implemented as a bot in Telegram; users just need an account to access it.TON DomainsWith TON’s domain name service (DNS), every user of the TON ecosystem can register their own unique domain name.Domains can be used as nicknames in the TON blockchain instead of a standard wallet address, which can be difficult to remember. Websites or smart contracts can be tied to a domain.
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To register a domain, users have to come up with a word and then place a bid to start an auction. After the bid is made, the auction lasts for one hour. If no one has made a second bid after one hour, then the user has the right to the domain. The size of the starting bid depends on whether there is an active auction for the selected domain, as well as the size of the word and demand for it. Each new bid is 5% bigger than the size of the previous one. TON DNS has an advantage over traditional DNS services in that, with the latter, users rent a domain name from a centralized commercial organization. TON DNS is a completely decentralized domain name system. No administrator can block a user’s domain.
