TON Breaks into Top Ten Crypto Following Pantera Capital Blockchain Investment – Rise of the SuperApp?

• The Open Network and Toncoin are rising in popularity.
• Toncoin (TON) is now ranked 9th in cryptocurrencies by market cap.
• Telegram boasts between 800 and 900 million daily active users in 2024.

Open Network’s crypto, Toncoin (TON) is reapproaching its all-time high (ATH) as it presses into the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap as messaging app-turned-crypto community favorite, Telegram, increases its Web3 presence.

With hundreds of millions of daily active users, major investments from the likes of Pantera Capital, and a blossoming ecosystem, Telegram has established itself as a mainstay of crypto culture and communications, signaling a bright future for crypto-messaging apps.

Toncoin (TON) Rally

Toncoin (TON) has experienced a major surge in price as it gained just over 16% in the past 7 days.

In addition, Toncoin has now surpassed Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), and Shiba Inu (SHIB) in market capitalization, ranking it ninth on the tables. It now sits at just over $21 billion, just behind Dogecoin (DOGE) which has over $24 billion in market cap.

After an explosive year of growth, TON climbed from around $2 in May 2023 to an all-time high (ATH) of over $7.60 in mid-April 2024. Following this, TON briefly slumped to under $5 on May 1, 2024.

Much of the initial growth can be attributed to Tether (USDT) launching on TON, seemingly the stablecoin’s fastest-growing launch.

Telegram Gets Pantera Investment and Arkham Intelligence Link

Crypto venture firm Pantera Capital has invested in layer-1 blockchain The Open Network (TON), which serves as Telegram’s main Web3 infrastructure.

As per the announcement , Pantera has identified Telegram as a capable messenger with considerable reach. But most importantly, TON as an L1 network with the “capacity to introduce crypto to the masses.”

Telegram currently boasts over 900 million  monthly active users. Pantera writes :

“At its core, Telegram embodies the ethos of crypto: an open, free network accessible to all. With TON, Telegram achieves a symbiotic relationship where scalable smart contract functionality and a robust payments network enable groundbreaking capabilities that were unattainable in the Web2 environment.”

Amongst its many praises, Pantera goes on to compare TON against the likes of Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL), highlighting that as an ideal platform for developers looking to launch applications “for hundreds of millions of users without compromising speed or security.”

Pantera believes that TON is “still in its early stages” and seemingly wants a front-row ticket for the ride.

Crypto on Telegram

Telegram has positioned itself as an independent communication platform, not just a simple messenger/social media app. It’s privacy-focused with a bunch of additional functionality that became a hub for the crypto community. Since its launch some ten years ago, it has grown to have over 800 million active users.

TON also serves as an in-app wallet, introducing a wealth of crypto-native services and platforms to the messenger.

As a result, it’s possible to buy, sell, and trade crypto directly through the app, and access crypto games, lending platforms, non-fungible token (NFT) platforms, and more without leaving the app.

Arkham x Telegram

Further demonstrating Telegram’s position as one of crypto’s darlings, on-chain analytics platform, Arkham Intelligence (ARKM), has announced its integration with Telegram and TON.

As per the official  announcement, the partnership will bring Arkham’s data to Telegram, and also support the TON token.

CCN has previously referenced Arkham Intelligence in several articles, especially ones centered around crypto wallets, smart contracts, and significant transactions.

As one of cryptos’ most comprehensive on-chain data and analytics providers, its integration in TON could be a major boost to security for Telegram users, TON, and the crypto ecosystem overall.

As well as providing valuable research and insights, it’s also a marketplace for intelligence. On it, you can trade addresses and transactions using ARKM tokens, inviting crypto users and institutions to self-regulate the crypto space.

Crypto Social Apps

The crypto community is growing rapidly in numbers, and apps like Farcaster, Damus, Haven, and others are attempting to secure a portion of this burgeoning market.

Often, they offer some blockchain-native niches, such as Farcaster’s Frames, which essentially create mini-apps within social media posts, so users never have to leave the platform to interact with a crypto trade, or NFT exchange for example.

It’s likely that throughout 2024, we’ll see Telegram and TON attract even more partnerships, integrations, and investments, which will serve to secure its position at the top for years to come.

But, blockchain-centric innovators such as Farcaster are gaining traction, which could generate some interesting competition in crypto’s emerging Social Finance (SocialFi) space.

About the Author

Eddie Mitchell

Eddie has been writing news and content primarily for crypto news and industry players over the past seven years. With an eye for the bigger picture, Eddie prefers to investigate the broader implications of a story, as well as explore the weird and wonderful world of crypto. He believes blockchain has already changed the world, but observes the space overall with a skeptical and adoring eye.

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