TON Coin—A fifth-generation blockchain solving the scalability trilemma

Why This Cryptocurrency Attracts the Attention of Developers and Investors

In the world of blockchain, there is an age-old problem: networks choose between speed, security, and decentralization. No one can have it all at once. Bitcoin is slow (7 transactions per second), but secure. Ethereum is faster (15-30 TPS), but more expensive. Solana is very fast (65,000 TPS), but constantly loses validators.

The open network (TON) approached the problem differently. Instead of choosing, it proposed dynamic sharding—each account exists in its own chain, and then these chains are combined into parallel shards. The result: theoretically millions of transactions per second at a cost of a fraction of a cent.

But technical perfection is only half the success. The real advantage of TON is that it is the official Web3 infrastructure of Telegram since September 2023. 900 million service users are already here. Cryptocurrency transactions now look like ordinary message sending.

What is TON and how does Toncoin differ from the Open Network

It is important to distinguish two concepts here.

Open Network (TON) — this is the entire infrastructure. A multi-blockchain system with a masterchain and working chains (each can branch into up to 2^60 shards). A set of protocols enabling decentralized applications to scale without losing security.

Toncoin — this is the economic layer. The native utility token that underpins the entire incentive system. Payment for transactions, validator staking, smart contract execution, value transfer. Without Toncoin, the network would lose its consensus mechanism and economic security.

This is similar to Ethereum and ETH, but the logic here is deeper. TON—platform, Toncoin—its blood.

As of early 2026, approximately 2.417 billion tokens are in circulation. The historical maximum is planned at 5 billion coins. This means the network still distributes about half of all tokens through validator rewards and ecosystem development.

History: how the project survived after SEC attack

The open network was born in 2018 as Telegram Open Network. Pavel and Nikolai Durov raised an unprecedented $1.7 billion to create a blockchain directly inside the messenger. The bold idea was to connect 900 million users with cryptocurrency.

But in October 2019, the SEC filed a lawsuit. The agency believed that the sale of GRAM tokens was an illegal issuance of securities. Telegram exited the project in June 2020, settling claims with a payment of $1.2 billion.

It seemed all was lost. But the community did not give up.

In 2021, Anatoly Makosov and Kirill Emelyanin created the TON Foundation and restored the original code under an open license. The token was renamed Toncoin. On December 23, 2021, Pavel Durov publicly supported the community-managed chain. And in September 2023, Telegram officially recognized TON as its Web3 infrastructure.

This was a turning point. From a local project, blockchain became a gateway for mass adoption of crypto technologies.

How TON processes millions of transactions per second

Infinite sharding instead of linear scalability

TON doesn’t just add new validators. It dynamically creates new chains under load. Working chains can split into shards, and those—into even smaller subdivisions (up to 2^60 combinations). Transactions are processed in parallel but remain linked through the masterchain.

Instant routing between shards

Typically, message passing between shards requires several blocks. TON uses Instant Hypercube Routing—messages traverse optimal paths in the hypercube topology of the network. Finalization takes less than a second (~5 seconds for a full block).

Extended virtual machine with cellular architecture

TVM (TON Virtual Machine) supports 64-bit, 128-bit, and 256-bit operations. Each data cell can contain up to 128 bytes and four links to other cells. This allows efficient representation of complex trees and graphs—what’s needed for DeFi.

Self-healing blockchains

If a validator signs an incorrect block, TON does not create a fork. Instead, the block forms a vertical chain that can be extended to correct errors. The integrity of the network is maintained.

Consensus with economic penalties

Validators stake TON tokens. If they behave honestly, they receive rewards (~20% annual yield at a 10% stake of the total validation supply). If rules are broken, part of the stake is burned and permanently removed from circulation.

Where TON already operates: real-world examples

Inside Telegram:

• Payments for Telegram Premium with cryptocurrency
• Direct purchases of advertising within the service
• Username auctions on Fragment.com (people pay thousands of dollars for nice names)

In DeFi: Decentralized exchange STON.fi processes hundreds of millions in volume, maintaining fees in fractions of a cent and instant finality.

In gaming: TON supports full-featured games with true asset ownership (NFT) and high throughput—impossible on slow chains.

In domains: The TON DNS system has registered over 50,000 .ton domains. People use them instead of cryptographic addresses—simple, understandable names.

In infrastructure: TON Storage for decentralized file storage. TON Proxy for anonymity. This is a sketch of a complete Web3 ecosystem.

How the token economy is structured

The maximum supply is capped at 5 billion coins. Currently, 2.417 billion are in circulation—46.94% of the maximum. The remaining are gradually distributed.

Inflation and its compensation:

New tokens are issued as rewards to validators. The target inflation rate is about 2% per year (assuming 10% of all tokens are staked). This creates a sustainable security model.

But there is a counterbalance. Validators who break rules face penalties—their stakes are partially burned. This deflationary mechanism balances the issuance of new coins.

Reward distribution:

Validators must stake a minimum amount. Rewards are proportional to the stake size and actual participation in block production. The system also supports nominators—people delegating tokens to validators and earning part of the income (but also risking punishment).

Storage fees:

In Ethereum, smart contract storage is free after deployment. In TON, a constant fee is charged for occupying space on the chain (calculated based on the number of cells and bytes). This incentivizes developers to write efficient code and increases validator income. Accounts unable to pay for storage are frozen and deleted.

The overall model: the cost to attack the network exceeds any potential gains many times over.

What Toncoin is used for in the ecosystem

1. Transaction fees — each operation requires gas paid in Toncoin. The fee model is deterministic and immune to market manipulation.

2. Validator staking — participating in block production requires a significant stake. This creates economic incentives for honesty and reduces circulating token volume.

3. Smart contract execution — each computation in TVM consumes gas. The complex model accounts for operations, storage, and message passing between contracts.

4. Routing between chains — messages within TON passing through the hypercube topology require payment. Validators collect these fees.

5. Ecosystem services — registration of TON DNS domains, file hosting in TON Storage, anonymity via TON Proxy. All paid in Toncoin.

6. Governance — token holders vote on protocol upgrades and network parameter changes.

Competition: why TON outpaces others

On paper, TON is not alone. Ethereum, Solana, Near Protocol, Polkadot, Cosmos, Aptos, Sui—all promise high throughput. But there are nuances.

Ethereum processes 15-30 TPS with fees in tens to hundreds of dollars. TON achieves millions of TPS with fees in fractions of a cent.

Solana reaches 65,000 TPS but suffers from frequent outages and centralization issues. TON maintains decentralization through its multi-blockchain architecture.

Near Protocol implemented sharding, but routing between shards is slower than in TON.

The main advantage of TON is not just in technical specs—competitors can copy them. It’s in the fact that TON already has a ready user base of 900 million people. This distribution (distribution) is already solved. The experience gained works like sending a message—end users don’t even think about the blockchain.

Competitors need to build user bases from scratch. TON already has one.

What the future holds for the blockchain

The TON Foundation aims to attract 500 million people to Web3 by 2028. Technical priorities:

• Scalability to millions of TPS through shard optimization
• New smart contract languages, inspired by Java, Haskell, and ML to expand the developer ecosystem
• Inter-chain bridges to Ethereum, Solana, and other major networks
• Zero-knowledge cryptography for private transactions

The expansion strategy relies on Telegram’s global reach, especially in developing countries where traditional banking is weak. Direct fiat gateways within Telegram, educational programs, and local partnerships will stimulate real-world adoption.

With grants from the Foundation, thousands of applications in gaming, social networks, and finance will develop. The unprecedented distribution advantage will allow TON to achieve what previous blockchains could not: true mass adoption.

Why this matters right now

TON solves a long-standing problem. Most people don’t want to deal with complex wallet addresses, calculating gas fees, learning new interfaces. Crypto wars have always been lost at this point—user friction was too high.

TON makes cryptocurrency invisible to the end user. It’s just another messenger feature—like video calls or voice messages. People send money just like text, without feeling they are dealing with a blockchain.

With this approach, mass adoption is no longer utopian. It’s a matter of scaling.

The open network is not just a technological breakthrough but a paradigm shift, where blockchain ceases to be a tool for specialists and becomes part of everyday life. Whoever controls this gateway controls the next generation of finance and social networks in Web3.