Telegram Open Network (TON) could be a real game changer

While the rumored imminent launch of Telegram’s blockchain platform Telegram Open Network (TON) hasn’t been confirmed by Telegram yet, it could have an important impact on the crypto space.

According to CoinTelegraph, “Telegram will release a test version of its blockchain-based TON platform ‘this autumn,’ Russian media outlet Vedomosti reports Tuesday, Oct. 16.”

Telegram pre-announced the move in a newsletter sent to investors. Two investors who received the newsletter confirmed to Vedomosti that a first version of TON, to be launched soon, would process transactions faster than the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains, with a throughput comparable to the Visa and Mastercard payment networks. TON payments would use the cryptocurrency Gram, and a wallet integrated with Telegram applications.

CoinTelegraph notes that, earlier this year, Telegram raised almost $1.8 billion in investments for TON and its current messenger app via two private Initial Coin Offering (ICO) presales.

“Following the success of the fundraising, in May executives subsequently cancelled the planned public phase of the ICO.”

In other words, Telegram didn’t even need to launch a public ICO, because the private ICO presales had raised enough money on their own. This spectacular achievement confirms that savvy crypto investors are very bullish on Telegram and TON.

The reason is easy to understand: The popularity of Telegram, especially among crypto enthusiasts and cryptocurrency users, is growing fast. In March, the company announced that “within the last 30 days, Telegram was used by 200,000,000 people.”

Why Telegram?

Telegram is minimalist, lightweight, works flawlessly on all devices and the web, and its creators say that they strongly support privacy and freedom of speech.

Telegram is an idea, says founder CEO Pavel Durov. It is “the idea that everyone on this planet has a right to be free.”

“Above all, we at Telegram believe in people. We believe that humans are inherently intelligent and benevolent beings that deserve to be trusted; trusted with freedom to share their thoughts, freedom to communicate privately, freedom to create tools. This philosophy defines everything we do.”

We all know that heavyweight internet services like Google, Facebook and Twitter do NOT support privacy and freedom of speech. They sell user data to spammers, censor user opinions, and ban users for their opinions.

Personally, I use Google, Facebook and Twitter a lot, because they are very convenient. But I would prefer not to be dependent on companies that don’t respect the right of their users to privacy and free speech. Many other users have expressed similar concerns. Therefore it’s to be expected that Telegram will continue to gain popularity against the heavyweights.

With TON plus a few enhancements and tweaks, Telegram could not only become a full social network with all the features offered by the heavyweights, but also advance toward a decentralized internet. In fact, Telegram has very ambitious plans.

Now, imagine the possibility to send and receive P2P payments within encrypted Telegram chats. This could be a real game changer and bring crypto payments to huge numbers of new users.

With the launch of TON, the network’s internal cryptocurrency GRAM could instantly become the world’s most adopted cryptocurrency:

“200 millions of Telegram users will get a TON wallet making it the world’s most adopted cryptocurrency, it will easily accommodate millions of users and thousands of decentralized applications, to provide direct payment channels to transfer value in milliseconds.”

Since the imminent launch of TON hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, it’s too early for enthusiasm and hype. At the same time, crypto enthusiasts and investors should follow this unfolding story. ChainRift Research will timely cover future developments.

Picture from Pexels.