Original source: Biteye
Have you started to FOMO #TON? These past two days, I have been crazy about posting black and white dog MEMEs and showing off my points. I thought the bull market was back. Today, Biteye will teach you how to play around with the TON ecosystem and seize potential airdrop opportunities.
1. Buy coins: $TON, $NOT, etc.
2. DeFi: Stonfi, EVAA, Tonstarter, etc.
3. Games: Catizen, Blum, Hamster Wars, etc.
4. Tools: Telegram Apps Center, TON App, etc.
We have organized this thread into a mind map, please take it if you need it.
The first step to participate in the TON ecosystem is to use a wallet. Currently, there are 49 wallets that support the TON chain. Here are two of the most popular ones: Wallet, TON Space
- Wallet is Telegram's native centralized custodian wallet, similar to WeChat Wallet built into WeChat's settings. Users can directly use Wallet to exchange tokens. Wallet supports users to deposit funds through P2P or bank cards.
- TON Space is a self-hosted wallet based on Telegram launched by the TON Foundation. It is embedded in Telegram and can be opened through Ton Space in Wallet. Users can use TON Space to connect directly from TON-based dApps. In addition to the seed phrase private key, the wallet can also be restored via email and Telegram account.
After completing this step, congratulations, you can now have fun in the TON ecosystem!
Method 1: Buy Coins
In terms of market capitalization, $TON is $18 billion and $SOL is $66 billion. If $TON can take off like $SOL and become an Ethereum killer, there is still 3.7 times of room for growth. $NOT has a market capitalization of $1.6 billion and is the second-ranked coin in the TON chain. It is already in the top 50 in market capitalization and is very popular. The TON ecosystem is not yet mature, and few other tokens can compete with it. Wait for a good opportunity.
In short, if you want to buy coins, currently only $TON and $NOT are OK. You can buy them on centralized exchanges (such as Binance, OKX), and you don’t need a TON wallet.
Method 2: DeFi
It has to be said that the public chains are changing, but the DeFi gameplay is solid, such as DEX, lending, staking, NFT, etc. Only when a chain has these platforms can it be active and have a large amount of funds, and can it further create a wealth myth.
Unlike Ethereum Layer2, TON chain cannot see large-scale migration of leading projects, and the diversity of the DeFi ecosystem still has a lot of room for improvement. 
Here are a few DeFi projects - DeFi project leader: Ston.fi （DEX） @ston_fi
- Lending protocol leader: EVAAProtocol @evaaprotocol
- Stablecoin Faucet: Aqua @aquaprotocolxyz
- Staking faucet: TonStakers @tonstakers
- Cross-chain bridge leader: Orbit @Orbit_Chain
- Launchpad leader: Tonstarter @ton_starter
- NFT platform leader: Getgems.io @getgemsdotio
- Lending protocol leader: EVAAProtocol @evaaprotocol
- Stablecoin Faucet: Aqua @aquaprotocolxyz
- Staking faucet: TonStakers @tonstakers
- Cross-chain bridge leader: Orbit @Orbit_Chain
- Launchpad leader: Tonstarter @ton_starter
- NFT platform leader: Getgems.io @getgemsdotio
You can take a look at the top ten DeFi projects in DefiLlama TVL. The specific approach is mining arbitrage, or ambush airdrop opportunities while interacting.
Method 3: Games
Games are the craze of this round of TON. Simple and easy games plus one-click forwarding on Telegram can make the games spread in the most effective way. A large number of game dealers are pouring into TON, and it is easy to obtain a large number of real users. Being listed on a large exchange is a great fortune.
Here are some TON chain game play methods
- Catizen: Cat synthesis game
Players run a cat pet shop. Customers will pay gold coins as rewards after petting cats. These gold coins can be used to buy new cats. Two cats of the same level can be combined into a new breed of cat, which will be one level higher than the original one. The player's task is to combine higher-level cats and earn more gold coins.
🔗 TG link: https://t.me/catizenbot
- Hamster Kombat: Hamster Wars
Tap-to-Earn game, you can get coins by tapping the hamster (CEO role of the simulated exchange) on the mobile phone screen. Players are encouraged to unlock more rewards through community interaction, and they can also increase passive income from mining by purchasing upgrade cards.
🔗 TG link: https://t.me/hamster_kombat_bot
- Blum: Gamified trading platform
Founded by a former Binance executive, players earn points through Farm and Drop games, and can get Drop game tickets and extra points by inviting new users.
🔗 TG link: https://t.me/BlumCryptoBot
- Yescoin: Notcoin’s twin brother
It is very similar to Notcoin, with a mode of collecting coins and completing tasks. You can collect tokens by sliding the screen on your phone.
🔗 TG link: https://t.me/theYescoin_bot
- Pixelverse: Cyber-style combat
Users train pet robots, click to fight (PVP and PVE modes), and adventure in different maps in the game center.
🔗 TG link: https://t.me/pixelversexyzbot
The above games can be found on the growth rankings of the TGStat website (https://tgstat.com).
Tool: Data Platform
- Telegram Apps Center: An app store supported by the TON Foundation. The included projects need to be reviewed. It has high security and you can check the weekly hot list. 🔗 Link: https://tapps.center
- TON App: A third-party TON App query platform, 🔗 Link: https://ton.app
- TGStat: A Telegram channel data analysis website that allows you to query the channels with the most subscribers and the ranking of subscriber growth on Telegram, so as to filter popular projects. 🔗 Link: https://tgstat.com
- TONStat: Contains key indicators of TON, and updates TON network statistics every day, including total transaction volume, performance, total fees, etc. 🔗 Link: https://tonstat.com
TON Chain Development Background and Opportunities
The development of the TON chain has been full of twists and turns. In 2017, Telegram founders Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov began to develop the Telegram Open Network (TON) project, with the token Gram. In 2020, Telegram announced its withdrawal from the TON project, renamed the project "The Open Network", and changed the token name to Toncoin. In 2023, Telegram officially announced that the TON chain would be the first choice for its Web3 infrastructure, and began application integration, such as Telegram's built-in wallet, using TON for transactions and payments... greatly accelerating Mass Adoption.
The overall market is pessimistic recently, but the TVL of TON chain has increased by more than 20 times in just four months, and has now exceeded 700 million. The TON ecosystem has also gradually developed, covering different tracks such as CEX, DEX, wallets, NFT and games, as shown in the figure. Of course, compared with public chains such as Ethereum and Solana, TON still has a lot of room for improvement, but its value cannot be simply measured by TVL. Relying on the real user group of the Telegram platform is a natural advantage that other public chains cannot match. Under the stimulation and promotion of the TON Foundation, the ecology of TON has a good development momentum and deserves long-term attention and participation.
The following image is from: @DegenonTON 
