Telegram takes over the TON ecosystem! Transaction fees cut to nearly zero, TON previously surged 24%

Messaging giant Telegram has announced it will replace the foundation and take over the TON blockchain itself, while cutting transaction fees by 6 times to nearly zero cost.

Telegram, the messaging software giant, said it has decided to replace the TON foundation and take the lead in taking over the TON blockchain itself, launching a “killer move” to slash transaction fees to nearly zero. The news instantly ignited market enthusiasm, driving a strong surge in the price of the native token Toncoin ($TON).

According to CoinGecko data, $TON surged more than 24% in the past 24 hours, jumping to 2.20 USD, reaching the highest level since last November. This rally not only focused on TON itself, but also quickly spread throughout the entire Telegram ecosystem: the popular token Notcoin ($NOT) soared nearly 26%; the meme coin Dogs ($DOGS) skyrocketed by more than 100%; and other small- and mid-sized tokens issued on TON also posted astonishing single-day gains.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced on Monday on the social platform X that Telegram will officially become the largest “Validator” node on the TON network, taking over the ecosystem’s driving role in full. He also previewed that the new developer tools, performance upgrades, and the revamped official website ton.org will be rolled out gradually over the next 2 to 3 weeks.

Becoming the largest validator node means Telegram is willing to put its massive resources into personally endorsing the security and development of the TON network. This move largely eliminates a long-standing concern that has weighed on investors’ minds—the gap between the grand vision described by Telegram and the actual execution capability of the TON foundation.

Cut transaction fees by 6 times—aiming at “high-frequency, small-margin” retail users

Pavel Durov also announced that transaction fees on the TON network have been drastically reduced by 6 times, nearly bringing them to zero. He had previously hinted that the transaction fee per transaction would be cut to 0.00039 $TON (about 0.0005 USD), and that in the future, most transactions will gradually move toward the ultimate goal of “zero transaction fees.”

Image source: X/@durov

A “nearly zero-cost” trading environment is crucial for the business model that Telegram truly wants to promote. Whether it’s on-chain tipping within groups, blockchain mini-games, bot payments, trading digital collectibles, or small-value personal transfers, all of it needs extremely low transaction fees to support it.

For DeFi whales who spend lavishly, a few dollars in fees may be no big deal; but for ordinary retail users who only transfer a few cents or dozens of dollars at a time, high fees are enough to kill the viability of a consumer-grade application. Ultra-low and fixed costs will make the TON network perfectly suited to real economic activities characterized by “high frequency and small value,” further expanding TON’s appeal within its existing massive base of communications users.

Fundamentals still need to be tested—the ultimate challenge is monetizing 1 billion traffic

According to estimates from multiple third-party data tracking websites, Telegram has as many as 1 billion monthly active users (the official has never confirmed or denied this figure). However, the harsh reality is that in recent years, TON’s fundamentals have consistently failed to keep up with the extremely high expectations brought by such massive traffic.

According to DefiLlama statistics, the total value locked (TVL) across various DeFi applications in the TON ecosystem is only just above 69 million USD, far from the historical peak of nearly 800 million USD in 2024.

In addition, TON’s daily on-chain transaction fee revenue is only about 3,600 USD; the decentralized exchange (DEX) daily trading volume is around 29 million USD; and the daily income from dApps is also only about 134,000 USD.

Ecosystem activity also faces challenges. Data from the blockchain explorer Tonstat shows that currently the TON network’s daily active transaction count is fewer than 50,000, contributed by about 136,000 unique wallets. Compared with the peak period from August to September 2024, when more than 2.2 million wallets generated nearly 700,000 transactions per day, it shows that there is still enormous room for the ecosystem’s heat to recover.

Now, as Telegram’s official leadership takes the helm, whether TON can truly convert the huge traffic of “1 billion users” into real on-chain economic activity is undoubtedly the next key focus that the crypto community is closely watching.

• This article is reprinted with permission from: 《Block Beast》
• Original title: 《Telegram Strongly Takes Over the TON Ecosystem! Fees Cut to “Nearly Zero,” $TON Surges More Than 24% in a Day》
• Original author: Block Sister MEL