Toncoin surged 33.8% following Pavel Durov's announcement that Telegram would take over the direct operational role on TON.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced on Monday thatTelegram will replace the TON Foundation as the main driver of The Open Network (TON) and will assume the position of the network's largest validator. The market reacted immediately: Toncoin surged 33.8% in 24 hours to $1.86, according to CoinGecko data. This represents a significant shift from a product distribution and payment infrastructure Vai to direct participation in the core operation of the chain network.
In a Telegram post , Durov stated that TON transaction fees have been reduced sixfold to near zero, and the next focus will be on “technological superiority,” including a new website, developer toolkits, and performance upgrades. He described this roadmap with the phrase “Make TON Great Again” and said the changes are expected to be implemented within the next two to three weeks.
Increasingly deep integration between Telegram and TON infrastructure.
The latest announcement didn't come out of nowhere. In 2024, Telegram integrated TON into its advertising revenue Chia system, allowing channel owners to receive 50% of advertising revenue in Toncoin. By January 2025, the TON Foundation confirmed TON Connect as the exclusive wallet connection protocol for all Telegram Mini Apps, and other chain -based applications were required to migrate to TON by February 2025.
Telegram's move to directly participate in network validation is the next step in a systematically developed vertical integration strategy built over many years.
However, the announcement leaves several notable gaps. It remains unclear what Vai the TON Foundation will play after the transition, how Telegram's validator structure will be established, and whether the company will disclose specific parameters such as Token Staking amounts or network validation weighting. The TON Foundation did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
The direct involvement of a messaging platform with over 900 million users as a validator on a public blockchain chain is unprecedented in the industry. On the one hand, this could provide TON with the resources, stability, and accessibility to the general public that most Layer-1 networks are still seeking.
On the other hand, the degree to which control of the validator is centralized in the hands of a single entity, even Telegram, will be a question that the community and network security analysts need to monitor closely.
