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What is the TON Cryptocurrency
TON (Telegram Open Network) is a blockchain developed by the creators of Telegram that supports smart contracts. The network is highly scalable, with corresponding speed and low fees, making it an attractive choice in the current environment of less efficient chains. Just a month ago, the average cost of a single Bitcoin transaction reached a historical high of $127.
Initially, TON was developed directly by the Telegram messenger team, who also conducted token sale rounds for the project in early 2018. Eventually, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intervened, calling the project's token sales transactions with unregistered securities.
At that time, the token was planned to be named Gram, and US citizens participated in the deals. This displeased the SEC, which opposed the pre-sales of tokens amounting to $1.7 billion. As a result, the Telegram team stepped back from the project, paid a fine of $18.5 million, and returned the raised investments. The development of TON on a decentralized basis was then taken over by the community.
The creators of Telegram Open Network emphasize the poor connection between modern blockchains such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and BNB Chain. Although these networks offer good security and user privacy, their speed often leaves much to be desired.
Therefore, the open-source community is working on creating a next-generation network in the form of TON, which was developed as a blockchain for blockchains. This means that Telegram Open Network can scale to increasingly attract new users, conduct transactions, and unite various individual blockchains.
Through TON, a smart contract in one network will be able to exchange data with applications in other blockchains, as well as access files and websites. Project representatives call this approach the unification of the blockchain world with the internet.
Here is a corresponding video describing the features of The Open Network. In general, the project ecosystem consists of the TON blockchain, its virtual machine, payment platform, TON DNS, storage, and TON sites.
At the core of this is the native cryptocurrency Toncoin (TON). As noted on the project’s website, Toncoin will become the future of the currency world and is used for conducting operations in The Open Network, interacting with games and NFTs based on this blockchain, and other platforms, a full list of which is available here.
The Exchange Rate of TON Cryptocurrency
Today, 3.474 billion TON are in circulation, while the maximum supply of the cryptocurrency is 5.106 billion coins. The annual inflation rate is 0.6 percent, which is relatively low compared to other popular cryptocurrencies.
The TON exchange rate is $6.65, and the cryptocurrency’s market capitalization is $22.9 billion. This places Toncoin in the tenth position in the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization ranking.
Over the past year, the price of Toncoin has increased by 251 percent. This is better than the respective results of Bitcoin and Ethereum, at 162 and 103 percent, but less than Solana’s 801 percent jump for the year.
The argument for further growth of the cryptocurrency is that the current market growth phase will be the first full-fledged bull run for Toncoin, and investors usually respond positively to new serious projects.
Moreover, The Open Network represents a first-level blockchain at the core of an entire ecosystem of working applications, making it a specific project that has already found application in the real world.
Where to Buy Toncoin (TON)
Toncoin (TON) is available on popular platforms such as OKX, Bybit, Gate.io, and KuCoin. Here is the corresponding ranking of platforms based on trading results over the past 24 hours.
The cryptocurrency is not traded on leading market platforms like Binance. Therefore, the listing factor remains for a positive reaction to Toncoin in the future.
Best Wallets for Toncoin (TON)
There are many wallets available for interacting with Toncoin, each with its own features. Some are centralized and focused on convenience and ease of use, while others provide full control over the cryptocurrency.
A complete list of options is available on this page. We have selected and tested three applications designed for different categories of users: a basic option, a more advanced wallet, and a solution for long-term storage of digital assets.
Basic Option — TON Wallet in Telegram
Toncoin can be used directly in the Telegram messenger. To do this, simply search for @wallet and activate the wallet using the “Start” button. The wallet interface will open directly in the application.
The wallet allows you to send and receive coins, exchange tokens, and even conduct operations on P2P platforms, buying and selling crypto for fiat.
The basic Wallet in Telegram is a centralized solution. This is indicated by the fact that this wallet does not show the seed phrase for managing crypto assets with another program. Essentially, it is an exchange that allows you to conduct operations upon request and provides access to coins for the relevant profile in the messenger.
For additional convenience, access to the wallet can be secured with a password and Face ID. In case of a forgotten password, it can be recovered via email.
You can send cryptocurrency to both a Telegram user and any external wallet within the blockchain. It is important to note that the recipient of the transfer in the messenger does not need to activate the wallet for this. They can do this and gain access to the coins later at any time. We discovered an archived transaction from December 2023 only in May.
The cost of withdrawing Toncoin to an external wallet is quite high and amounted to 0.05 TON or 32 cents. It takes several minutes to confirm the transaction.
Overall, the situation is similar to what happens on any centralized exchange.
Advanced Option — Tonkeeper
Download Tonkeeper: Android / iOS / MacOS-Linux / Chrome / Firefox
Tonkeeper is a non-custodial wallet, meaning the user controls what happens with the coins. This is indicated by the option to import an address when the program is first launched.
To start using Tonkeeper, simply create a password that will be used to confirm transactions. You can import a seed phrase later, which will also require the password.
The application allows you to stake TON either as a full validator with 10,000 Toncoin or as a small investor with just one coin. In practice, you need at least 2.2 TON in your balance to stake.
The last tab in Tonkeeper contains available applications. For example, there is Tokenstore for purchasing game cards with TON and TonMobile, which allows you to buy an eSIM with the same digital asset.
For convenience, transactions can be confirmed using Face ID. The interface is generally clear and clean, and the interaction logic is similar to other modern wallets like Phantom, where the right tab is also intended for Web3 applications.
The Most Secure Option — MyTonWallet with Ledger hardware wallet
Download MyTonWallet: Android / iOS / Windows-MacOS-Linux / Chrome
For reliable long-term storage of coins, familiar hardware wallets exist. In the case of Ledger devices, they feature a separate security chip that is isolated from the internet and signs each transaction offline.
This means it cannot be influenced by the internet. Since Ledger hardware wallets’ screens are also not connected to the internet, users will see the real amounts and addresses of the wallets where crypto will be sent before transactions are made. If a smartphone or PC is affected by a virus and tries to stealthily replace the recipient’s address, the hardware wallet will still show the real data. The user can then notice the substitution and prevent the loss of funds.
TON can also be stored using Ledger devices. This is done without native cryptocurrency support, so it is not possible to create a corresponding wallet in Ledger Live. Instead, we use a combination of the TON application on the hardware wallet and the MyTonWallet program.
For variety, we used MyTonWallet as a browser extension for Chrome. However, this is not the only option for interacting with hardware wallets and TON. For example, the previous wallet, Tonkeeper, also supports Ledger devices both as an application and as a separate web program.
Connecting a Ledger device can be done when MyTonWallet is first launched. The corresponding button is located at the bottom right.
The wallet allows receiving and sending coins, as well as staking TON in large amounts.
The program also allows interacting with various Web3 applications but does not support NFTs when using a hardware wallet.
As we have noted, hardware wallets are a reliable option for storing coins, as they require physical confirmation of each transaction using buttons. However, this does not mean that owners of such devices cannot fall victim to hackers.
First of all, the danger lies in social engineering, where users are tricked into performing an action — for example, approving interaction with a malicious contract or even just sending crypto to the address specified by a fraudster — or disclosing confidential information.
Additionally, money can be lost if the application with which the user previously interacted and to which permissions were granted is compromised.
Therefore, experts recommend storing large reserves of crypto on hardware wallets as full cold storage. This means that such wallets are used exclusively for sending and receiving coins, but not for interacting with smart contracts. Thus, the compromise of the latter will not affect the security of coins on the hardware wallet, essentially making the latter invulnerable.
For those who wish to use blockchain applications, it is better to create a separate hot wallet and keep small amounts on it. In case this address is hacked, it will not affect the safety of the main crypto reserves.
Here is the Ledger Nano X hardware wallet with the TON application running.
And here the device asks to confirm the transaction for sending all TON from the address.
If you have large reserves of coins and want to hold them long-term, it is definitely worth considering purchasing a hardware wallet. Additionally, it is advisable to use it as cold storage, meaning not approving interaction with any smart contracts.
How to Mine TON in 2024
Anyone with a graphics card can earn Toncoin (TON). This is facilitated by a new system of automatic conversion of rewards to TON on the 2Miners pool.
The logic is as follows: you set up mining of cryptocurrencies Ergo (ERG), Clore.ai (CLORE), Ravencoin (RVN), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Kaspa (KAS), EthereumPOW (ETHW), or Neurai (XNA), specifying a TON network address in the reward address field. The accumulated reward is then automatically converted to Toncoin and sent to the specified wallet.
Let’s say you have an Nvidia graphics card and want to accumulate TON in anticipation of further growth in the coin market. To do this, choose one of the listed coins — for example, Ravencoin — and go to the corresponding help page of the 2Miners pool.
For Nvidia graphics cards, it is recommended to use Gminer or T-Rex miners, which are available in this archive with the password “2miners”.
Download the application and check the basic settings of the bat file. For Gminer, they look like this.
miner.exe --algo kawpow --server rvn.2miners.com:6060 --user YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS.RIG_ID
pause
Thus, to receive TON, simply specify the corresponding format address, such as UQDBrSEOIq5X78ghOTQIn6QzjXYrcqPvxpqavMIYC6j_rqBl, in place of the wallet address.
As a result, the settings will look like this.
miner.exe --algo kawpow --server rvn.2miners.com:6060 --user UQDBrSEOIq5X78ghOTQIn6QzjXYrcqPvxpqavMIYC6j_rqBl.RIG_ID
pause
After starting mining, all that remains is to wait for the payouts. Additionally, you can check the 2CryptoCalc calculator page, which will help you choose more profitable coins from the list for your equipment.
Join our mining community on Telegram. There we discuss cryptocurrency mining, not staking and other topics.
