Toncoin rose sharply after Pavel Durov said Telegram will replace the TON Foundation as the main driving force behind The Open Network and become the largest validator, marking the messaging platform’s most explicit operational step in the blockchain it originally launched.
TON gradually rose from around $1.35 to around $1.80, an increase of around 30%, with CoinMarketCap making it one of the top 20 crypto assets by market capitalization during the rally.
Durov places Telegram back in the center of TON
The immediate reason was one after from Durov on May 4, who described the move as the next phase of TON’s technical roadmap after a major reduction in network costs.
“Fees in TON have fallen by six times to almost zero. Next step: Telegram replaces the TON Foundation as the driving force behind TON and becomes the largest validator. The focus shifts to technological superiority,” Durov wrote.
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He added that the network is expected to receive a “new ton.org, new dev tools, new performance upgrades,” with an indicated timeline of “2-3 weeks.” That combination of lower fees, validator participation and developer upgrades gave traders a clear catalyst after TON spent much of late April trading around $1.30.
The statement also narrows the distinction between Telegram as a distribution platform and TON as a blockchain ecosystem. TON’s strongest strategic asset has long been its proximity to Telegram’s user base, but Durov’s language suggests a more direct role for the company in execution, infrastructure and ecosystem signaling.
The rate reduction had already been sent by telegram at the end of April. On April 23, Durov said TON rates would increase sixfold within a week to “just 0.00039 TON” per transaction, fixed regardless of network load. He also said most trades would become completely numb “shortly afterwards”.
That fee structure is important because the commercial core of TON is not only speculative settlement, but also high-frequency consumer activity within Telegram. In January 2025, the TON Foundation said that TON would become the exclusive blockchain infrastructure for Telegram’s Mini App ecosystem, supporting a platform it said would reach more than 950 million monthly active users.
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The same announcement stated that Telegram would continue to accept Toncoin as the only cryptocurrency for non-fiat payments through platform services such as Telegram Stars, Premium, Ads and Gateway, while Toncoin would also be used to pay mini-app developers and channel owners for earned stars and ad revenue.
TON’s history gives the announcement extra weight. Telegram originally developed the Telegram Open Network under Pavel and Nikolai Durov, before the project was halted following action by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over the sale of Gram tokens. In June 2020, the SEC said Telegram and TON Issuer agreed to return more than $1.2 billion to investors and pay an $18.5 million civil penalty to settle charges related to an unregistered offering of digital tokens.
After Telegram stepped down, the network continued through community-led development under the Open Network brand. Telegram later rebuilt its links with TON through product integrations, payments and mini-apps. Durov’s final statement is significant because it presents the next phase not as an expansion of the partnership, but as a leadership change.
At the time of writing, TON was trading at $1,806.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com