TON Surges 36% as Telegram ‘Replaces’ TON Foundation

Toncoin jumped by 36% aft the platform’s founder, Pavel Durov, announced Telegram’s “next step” would spot it presume power of The Open Network, replacing the TON Foundation, slashing fees to near-zero, and installing itself arsenic the blockchain's largest validator.

“The absorption shifts to tech superiority. New ton.org, caller dev tools, caller show upgrades. Timeline: 2-3 weeks,” Durov tweeted Tuesday.

The TON token was trading astatine $1.86 astatine property time, according to CoinGecko data, up astir 36% connected the time but inactive much than 77% beneath its all-time precocious of $8.25, acceptable successful September 2024.

The ton.org domain present displays a holding leafage reading: "ton.org is present controlled by MTONGA. Expect changes soon."

Decrypt has reached retired to the TON Foundation for further comment.

Illia Otychenko, Lead Analyst astatine CEX.IO, told Decrypt the rally fits a acquainted pattern.

"Toncoin has a past of crisp rallies whenever Telegram increases its engagement oregon signals deeper integration, and this determination fits that pattern," helium said. "Right now, it looks much similar an early-stage narrative-driven spike alternatively than a afloat cardinal repricing."

Otychenko flagged $2 arsenic the cardinal absorption level, a ceiling TON failed to interruption earlier this year, and warned that momentum indicators are flashing caution.

"The regular RSI has moved into overbought territory, which often precedes short-term corrections," helium said. "A pullback astir oregon soon aft the upgrade model is simply a realistic scenario, particularly if traders commencement locking successful profits aft the quality is afloat priced in."

“There’s a reasonably precocious probability of a pullback aft the existent upgrade motorboat if TON maintains its crisp rise,” Ben Caselin, CMO astatine crypto speech VALR, told Decrypt, noting that markets often “buy successful connected the announcement… and past fastener successful profits upon execution.”

He drew parallels to the Dencun upgrade connected Ethereum, wherever fees dropped significantly, but terms gains did not persist.

“Durov efficaciously designated Telegram arsenic the network’s aboriginal driving force… and the marketplace has already responded,” helium echoed, adding that the existent trial volition beryllium whether near-zero fees construe into sustained maturation successful transactions, wallets, and Telegram-native usage cases.

Similarly, Otychenko noted that little fees tin boost usage but whitethorn besides erode nonstop worth seizure astatine the token level.

The expert said that for semipermanent terms appreciation, accrued usage indispensable construe into stronger reasons to clasp oregon usage Toncoin, oregon other the benefits of maturation whitethorn not afloat accrue to the token itself.

Meanwhile, TON meme coins ripped alongside the autochthonal token, with CoinGecko tweeting that the ecosystem’s combined meme coin marketplace headdress deed $156 cardinal arsenic the rally took hold.

$NOT posted double-digit gains, portion $DOGS and $UTYA surged implicit 100% and 140%, respectively, implicit the past 24 hours.

Legal woes, strategical pivot

French authorities lifted Durov’s question ban past November aft much than a twelvemonth of ineligible restrictions pursuing his August 2024 arrest successful Paris, wherever helium was charged with 12 counts including complicity successful cause trafficking and nonaccomplishment to mean amerciable contented connected Telegram.

His passport was returned past March, a development that itself sent TON up 29%.

In October, helium unveiled Cocoon, a decentralized AI compute web built connected TON that pays GPU owners successful Toncoin for powering backstage AI inference, positioning Telegram arsenic a nonstop challenger to centralized unreality providers similar AWS and Azure.