TON and Polygon Labs Collaborate to Bring EVM Functionality Through New TON L2
The TON Application Chain (TAC) and Polygon Labs have announced a significant collaboration to introduce Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) functionality to the TON ecosystem. The integration, revealed on July 9, involves the TON L2 incorporating Polygon CDK and the interoperability protocol Agglayer. This move aims to enable EVM-compatible decentralized applications (DApps) on TAC, expanding the range of services available to TON users, including decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, and identity solutions.
TAC is described as a layer-2 network built on TON, designed to bring EVM-based decentralized applications to both TON and Telegram users. The founding team of TAC includes notable figures such as Curve founder Michael Egerov and the team behind The Open Protocol (TOP), which provides crypto wallet functionality within the Telegram app. Looking ahead, Pavel Altukhov, CEO of TAC, mentioned that TAC is planning to raise an additional $5 million in an external funding round.
Altukhov explained that the introduction of EVM compatibility is a game-changer for the TON Network. He highlighted that this will remove barriers for users and expects a surge in interest for DeFi and GameFi applications post-integration. He also mentioned the recent integration of USDT on TON and the rise of Tap-to-Earn applications, particularly through a project called Notcoin. "The expansion of the mini apps ecosystem has driven the growth of 5.8 million monthly active on-chain wallets on Telegram. TAC's integration is expected to amplify this demand further," he added.
With applications like Wallet in Telegram, the EVM-compatible integration will provide Ethereum developers access to Telegram's extensive user base, facilitating the implementation of more real-world crypto applications. Potential use cases include DeFi applications, gaming, and decentralized identity solutions.