(I will update this page as information becomes available.)
TON is Telegram’s new blockchain coin. Its launch has been recently announced but no ICO release date has been published yet.
TON stands for “Telegram Open Network” for the Telegram Chat App. Some say that this ICO will be the biggest yet.
Here is the TON announcement video:
Telegram has 170 million users and acquires 500K more users on a daily basis. It boasts 70 billion messages delivered thus far.
Telegram is an encrypted chat technology which has had some controversies.
Telegram users will automatically get a TON wallet when registered on its platform with no extra steps needed. This makes it the most convenient cryptocurrency yet in terms of getting started.
TON is created with Telegram’s vision in mind – high traffic and scale-ability.
It boasts the ability to revolutionize the blockchain back by the technology that makes Telegram such a modern chatting app.
How it will do this is by allowing for a dynamically generated blockchain that adjust to the demands placed on it.
This flexible blockchain will (supposedly) accommodate billions of users. They say that if every person in the world were to use TON at the same time, the network could handle it. This has yet to be determined, however.
200 million Telegram users will automatically receive a TON account when it is released. This is quite promising because the work of creating an account has already been completed; there’s now extra incentive for someone to send and receive GRAM (a unit in the TON world).
Telegram already utilizes anonymity and decentralization which simply makes TON an obvious step in the right direction.
The TON ICO
Its Initial Coin Offering seeks to raise billions of dollars in the ICO phase. It seeks to raise $500M alone in the pre-ICO to private investors whom invest $20M or more. Subsequent ICO phases have yet to be determined.
It’s safe to say that with the huge demand of TON (which is already gaining momentum) these ICO phases will be for big investors only. There may not be a price point low enough to be approachable by the average cryptocurrency investor.
WeChat Alternatives
WeChat is China’s version of Telegram, with various differences of course. WeChat already carries with it in-app purchasing power. However, WeChat is also primarily centralized.
Telegram seeks to offer both decentralized and anonymous transactions as well as fiat-based transactions in its upcoming Open Network.
Four Stages/Phases
TON boasts over 130 pages of very specific and informative information in its white paper. It announces a four-stage plan:
1. Services. This is the user-end interface for partaking in apps and smart contracts (which is very typical of newer cryptocurrencies these days).
2. DNS. This phase seeks to serve as a portal for user interaction in a very technically-advanced re-creation of the Internet as we know it. (I’ve noticed that many new cryptocurrencies are taking this approach which makes it very exciting to see how cryptocurrency serves to either replace or supplement the Internet as we know it!)
3. Blockchain. The TON blockchain may very well be the biggest blockchain we’ve ever encountered. Its founders claim that it will have 4,000,000,000[…] with 25+ more zeroes different blockchains. This is an incomprehensible amount of space on this hypothetical blockchain. With a landscape this size, it could very well empower Internet Technology as we know it.
4. Hypercube Routing. No, this is not something from Star Trek. This is real-freaking-life. Basically, with the blockchain as it exists today, if you have two conflicting blocks, then they will “fork” and create two separate ‘realities’. TON will dynamically adjust for soft forks, thus preventing hard forks. This has been described as “self healing” by TechCrunch and represents a blockchain that literally shifts and evolves to meet the demands of its users.
Where to Take Part in TON’s ICO
As of not, there’s no information how to join. There’s a lot of speculation, and some sources report that TON’s pre-ICO phase will require a minimum investment of $20 million dollars, supporting a desired number (25) of investors to ‘get the party started’.
I will post ICO information here once it becomes available. Trust me, I’m keeping my eyes peeled on this coin’s release. I’ve never taken part in an ICO before, and this one could be loads of fun… IF it is affordable, that is!
Here’s a link to a Google Search you should keep bookmarked:
Final Words
If you want to invest in the biggest ICO in history, you will need to act fast! It’s very likely the coins will sell out fast, and it’s even more likely that TON immediately positions itself in the top 20 cryptocurrencies as of day one of trading on the exchanges.
After the coin is released, based on patterns of similar cryptocurrencies, its value might skyrocket and then plummet. Once it corrects, then it should continue a steady upward trend with minor ups and downs along the way. If this coin does everything it says it can, then it’s reasonable to expect Bitcoin to have yet another very serious competitor.
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