TON’s Meteoric Rise in 2024 and Subsequent Challenges
TON experienced a meteoric rise in 2024, yet soon faced numerous challenges. This article will guide readers through the changes in TON for 2025.
What’s Different About TON in 2025 Compared to Last Year
The author chose to expose themselves to TON in Q4 of 2023 due to the significant advantage of widespread Telegram user adoption and the market’s evident undervaluation of TON at that time. The reasons for exiting last summer included:
- Other chains can also utilize Telegram BOTs, rendering TON’s advantage diminished.
- The infrastructure and ecosystem were still immature.
- The market was flooded with Gamefi projects that merely ported WeChat mini-games to Telegram, lacking novelty.
- Issues with token economics (transitioning from PoW to PoS) and governance.
- The community was demoralized following Pavel Durov’s arrest.
- The presence of fake users from studios and low-net-worth users.
(EP.197 Is Telegram’s Founder a Freedom Fighter? The Truth Behind TON’s Price Boom? feat. Blockchain Expert Xu Ming’en)
Now:
- Telegram announced it will only support TON.
- Pavel Durov has been released.
- Renowned VCs such as Sequoia Capital, Ribbit, Paradigm, Benchmark, and Kingsway have purchased over $400 million worth of TON tokens.
- Grok announced its entry into Telegram.
- Telegram gifts and TON NFTs can be converted into each other.
(Telegram Announces Toncoin as the Sole Partner Cryptocurrency! Hamster Quick Strike Will Launch Its Own Chain)
TON DeFi Ecosystem Undergoing Major Restructuring
Last year, DeFi TVL was concentrated in two protocols, STON.Fi and DeDust. Currently, excluding liquidity staking, Stonfi remains in the lead with $53 million, while EVAA holds the second position with $40 million. New protocols Factorial and the award-winning team from the hackathon, Storm Trade, have emerged, occupying the third and fourth positions in on-chain TVL, whereas the once-dominant Dedust appears to be falling behind.
Last year’s TON DeFi had a somewhat rudimentary interface, with limited functionalities available for users. However, TON’s TVL is now close to $200 million, still twice the amount prior to the recent surge, and when viewed in terms of TON’s native currency, it is ten times more, indicating that some new believers remain.
Can the Star-Studded Investment Lineup of Blum Propel TON to New Heights?
Former Binance executive Gleb Kostarev founded the Blum protocol. Currently, Blum’s products, besides the Launchpad, also include a TG Trading BOT that supports SOL and TON chains. However, it seems that other aspects are still focused on monetizing traffic from last year’s Mini App Social, with the points system stagnating for a while and even rumors circulating about prioritizing product development over launching a token. Recently, it has been confirmed that they are preparing for a TGE, which might be the last chance to get on board.
Although Blum’s products currently lack differentiation, the investor lineup is considered top-notch within the TON ecosystem; the last project of this scale was likely Catizen. Last September, YZi Labs announced strategic financing. In February, gumi Cryptos Capital led a funding round with participation from YZi Labs, Spartan Group, No Limit Holdings, OKX Ventures, Bitscale Capital, Wintermute, and The Open Platform, raising $5 million. With Pavel’s return, TON needs to win back market attention, and timing-wise, Blum might be the key.
Risk Warning
Investment in cryptocurrencies carries a high level of risk, and prices can be highly volatile, leading to the potential loss of your entire principal. Please assess the risks cautiously.