tl;dr
Telegram and The Open Network Foundation have entered an exclusivity deal, requiring Telegram mini apps with crypto integrations to use TON blockchain. The agreement offers benefits to projects using the network, with grants up to $50,000 for migration within a 30-day window. This comes amid the rei...
Telegram and The Open Network Foundation have entered an exclusivity deal, requiring Telegram mini apps with crypto integrations to use TON blockchain. The agreement offers benefits to projects using the network, with grants up to $50,000 for migration within a 30-day window. This comes amid the reintegration of Telegram and TON, leading to TON becoming the exclusive blockchain for Telegram mini apps and games.
Messaging platform Telegram is making things official with TON — again. On Tuesday, Telegram and The Open Network Foundation announced an exclusivity deal that will require Telegram mini apps (including games) with crypto integrations to use TON, with Telegram also providing various benefits to projects that utilize the network.
“The integration of TON as the exclusive blockchain for Telegram mini apps is a strategic step forward, strengthening TON's status as one of the world's leading blockchains,” TON Foundation President Manual Stotz told Decrypt.
Telegram is the original creator of TON, which was originally known as the Telegram Open Network, but dumped the project in 2020 due to regulatory scrutiny. Over the last year and a half, Telegram and TON have increasingly become intertwined again.
A TON Wallet app launched on Telegram, helping to fuel a wave of tap-to-earn crypto games that collectively attracted hundreds of millions of players, led by Hamster Kombat and Notcoin. Furthermore, Telegram began paying channel operators a cut of ad revenue via Toncoin (TON), and launched an in-app Telegram Stars currency that can be redeemed for TON. Earlier this month, Telegram revealed plans to let users mint in-app stickers as tradable NFTs on TON.
With this agreement, however, Telegram and TON are no longer just aligned but now joined at the hip. Telegram mini apps and games that have utilized other networks, such as Sui or Aptos, will be required to migrate over to TON and the TON Connect protocol to retain crypto functionality. The TON Foundation will offer grants for projects that migrate within a 30-day window, with grants ranging up to $50,000 depending on audience size. Projects that previously received support from the Foundation will be ineligible.
Asked about the timing of the news, Stotz did not allude to the U.S. political shifts, but pointed to the long alignment between the parties. “It’s a natural and strategic alignment,” he told Decrypt. “Telegram has long advocated for open-source technology and championed the global Web3 community, and TON shares and is well-positioned to support that vision.