The TON (The Open Network) ecosystem is rapidly emerging as a powerful force in the social gaming landscape, offering a comprehensive suite of tools for developers to create decentralized applications (dApps) within the Telegram platform. Central to this ecosystem is the $TON token, which fuels transactions, supports governance, and incentivizes participation through a well-structured economic model.

TON Cover Banner on X

This article is the second in a series examining a recent report by Delphi Digital on the social gaming landscape, with a focus on the unique features of the TON ecosystem. With a burgeoning developer community and a series of strategic growth initiatives, TON is set to transform the intersection of blockchain technology and social gaming, as highlighted in this second installment of our four-part series on the topic.

TON Ecosystem Overview

The TON ecosystem provides developers with a comprehensive tech stack to create various dApps, including wallets, exchanges, bridges, and games, all integrated within Telegram. Hundreds of teams are working to meet diverse market needs through these applications.

The TON Ecosystem Q1 2024

The Role of the $TON Token

At the heart of the TON ecosystem is the $TON token, serving as the gas token for all transactions on the blockchain. Validators must stake TON to participate in the proof-of-stake validation process, similar to networks like Ethereum and Solana. Developers also need to pay in $TON to deploy and run smart contracts, with fees covering base, storage, and execution costs. This structure ensures scalable token utility and validator revenue.

Users and developers can exchange value within the ecosystem using TON with minimal friction. While the token supply increases by a fixed 0.6% annually, 50% of network fees are burned, incentivizing holding the token as its value scales with network activity. For instance, the yearly burn rate based on June 2024 data is approximately 2.89 million TON, against a fresh supply of 30.65 million TON entering the ecosystem through inflation.

90% of TON is Held by 100 Wallets

Governance and Centralization

TON token holders are granted governance rights proportional to their holdings, though this is not the primary utility of the token. The governance system is highly centralized, with the top 100 holders controlling 92% of the supply, limiting the impact of decentralized decision-making.

In June 2023, 98% of voters supported burning 50% of network fees, highlighting strong community alignment. Despite only four proposals being voted on, all passed with an average of 96% approval, largely due to the centralized voting power.

The Ton Believers Fund

Demonstrating strong community conviction, the Ton Believers Fund has locked over 1.3 billion TON for five years, representing around 25% of the total supply. This fund stopped accepting contributions in 2023 and entered a two-year hard lock period, followed by a three-year linear vesting period.

While this long-term commitment underscores community belief in TON, it further centralizes governance. Rewards for stakers come from donations and a 1 million TON allocation approved by 99.4% of voters.

TON Token

Growth and Developer Community

The TON ecosystem has experienced significant growth. Notcoin reached 40 million users within six months, and Hamster Kombat surpassed 200 million registered users with over 30 million daily active users. These milestones reflect the rapid expansion reminiscent of early social games but highlight the enhanced growth potential through crypto incentives.

Telegram's February announcement that its ad network would share 50% of generated revenue with channel owners via TON acted as a major catalyst. This move resulted in a 40% surge in Toncoin's value and continued to gain traction.

From Q1 2022 to Q4 2023, TON's developer community on Telegram grew from 2,200 to 13,500 users. By June 2024, this number nearly doubled to 36,500, with a notable increase in Mandarin-speaking developers, indicating rising interest from the Chinese crypto community.

The Flippening CT Ignores

TON Growth Initiatives

The TON Foundation, a non-profit organization, drives ecosystem development. Backed by a $90 million fund from 2022 and a new 30 million $TON community rewards initiative, it supports native dApp development. The foundation's accelerator program has approved 82 proposals, with GameFi being a prominent sector.

The TON Community recently announced an eight-week "Open League Hackathon" across 13 locations, offering up to $500,000 in prizes and significant incentives for participants. Community incentives are crucial for long-term growth, with over $40 million in TON awarded through various initiatives, 17% of which went to gaming projects.

TVl Change on TON

The Success of TON Games

TON games have achieved significant success in various competitions, consistently dominating the app battle leaderboards. TAP Fantasy claimed the second position during the Beta season and emerged victorious in Season 1. Seasons 2 and 3 were both won by Catizen, a game developed by a Chinese team with prior experience in WeChat mini-games.

Games are a key driver for TON in generating meaningful and sustainable user engagement. Catizen's team, with their monetization expertise, has generated over $10 million through in-game purchases in the past three months. This demonstrates that teams with effective monetization strategies can convert user engagement into substantial revenue streams.

The Fastest Growing Revenue Game in Web3

Challenges and Future Outlook

While Catizen quietly builds, Hamster Kombat and Notcoin have recently taken the spotlight. Hamster Kombat surpassed 9.9 million X followers, averaged over 2 million impressions per post, and scaled to 142 million users in just 77 days. Despite these impressive metrics, teams building on TON must demonstrate their ability to execute successful liveops and convert free-to-play users into paying customers without relying on infinite inflationary token reward strategies.

User acquisition is a critical first step, but retaining them necessitates regular fresh content, especially in the competitive web3 attention economy. Additionally, botting can quickly become a significant issue due to its cost efficiency. Without effective countermeasures, the allure of financial rewards will attract numerous bots, diluting player rewards and creating additional sell pressure.

To support developers in an increasingly competitive mobile gaming landscape and improve web2 to web3 transitions, Telegram has introduced Stars, a native in-app purchase (IAP) currency that can be easily integrated into bots and mini-games. Users can now seamlessly purchase items from their favorite games using this AppStore-compliant currency. This integration unlocks deeper player spending and more stable revenue flows for developers, who will receive a 70% share of IAPs.

Telegram Stars

Final Thoughts

The TON ecosystem's rapid expansion and innovative integration with Telegram highlight its transformative potential in the realm of social gaming and blockchain technology. The $TON token plays a crucial role in facilitating transactions, supporting network growth, and driving community engagement through a robust incentive structure. 

As the ecosystem continues to attract developers and achieve significant milestones, it is poised to make a lasting impact on both the gaming industry and the broader blockchain space. Keep an eye out for the next article in this series that will look at notable gaming projects on TON. This article was inspired by an original blog post by Delphi Digital.

Source: Delphi Digital