The rise of the TON ecosystem: Web3 super applications based on Telegram

Author: ReveloIntel Source: ReveloIntel Translation: Shan Ouba, Golden Finance

TON has been gaining more and more attention recently, as the token has been the best performer among large-cap tokens in these markets. The TON ecosystem itself has seen considerable growth, with total TVL growing 6x in the past 3 months despite lackluster cryptocurrency activity during this period. This is based on the native USDT deployment, as well as other announcements made by founder Pavel Durov during Token 2049. This includes Telegram domain NFT trading, creator monetization through channel ads, and more. With all these new products, it's easy to forget TON's original connection to Telegram, which started out as a communication app. It has since grown into a super app with 800 million monthly active users, with widespread adoption outside the Western world, particularly in Russia and India, two huge growth markets. Apps like WeChat in China and LINE in Southeast Asia (SEA) have dominated as primarily communications apps. However, the product range of these widely adopted apps has expanded, with QR codes at restaurants, stores, and other venues becoming a method of accessing digital offerings at a specific venue. These include digital menus and e-shops, delivery services, and more. WeChat has even become something of a social media platform, and is widely used for payments, which is probably the most widely used payment method in China. The opportunity for Telegram to take a similar route but with cryptocurrency instead of a centralized rail is obvious. The team continues to expand these products, even recently launching an integration that allows the Philippine government to pay dues in USDT on the TON network. As mentioned above, the TON ecosystem has seen a huge increase in TVL. Telegram has 300 mini-apps that can be accessed on Telegram. While some of the games are certainly in their early stages, there are still some DeFi opportunities to be found that allow those who want to get involved in TON to earn some benefits and incentives in the process. In today's edition, we will review a handful of the top dApps in the emerging ecosystem, including some incentives as part of the TON Open Alliance program.

Notcoin

Notcoin stands out in the TON ecosystem. Despite a relatively simple product, the native token of this project or game did not rank among the top 100 soon after launch. This is likely due to the lack of investable tokens for native DeFi applications and the high demand for TON beta considering that the TON token itself has a huge market cap of nearly $20B and an FDV of about twice that.

STON.fi

STON.fi is one of the leading DEXs on TON, claiming to be the number one DEX on the chain, offering the best Toncoin spot swap rates. Users can also find multiple options to provide liquidity. Founded in 2022, the project specifically hopes to capitalize on Telegram’s large audience and TON’s growth through a user-friendly experience. The DEX cites the underlying TON blockchain’s use of sharing and asynchronous nature as compelling attributes that allow STON.fi to limit front-running.

Notcoin’s premise is pretty straightforward to understand; users simply click on an animated coin on the Notion app to slowly start earning the token. The app is very similar to the basic game that gained a certain amount of popularity when touchscreen mobile devices first became popular. Like its predecessor, Notcoin allows users to level up their earning power as they gain experience and play more games. Notcoins can also be earned by inviting friends and attracting more users, which helps maintain the network effect and establish the project as a key part of the very young blockchain ecosystem. The game, app, or whatever you want to call it, is interesting to say the least; whether the native token will play well remains to be seen.

STON.fi’s main selling point is that it serves as the home of TON’s native liquidity. The team’s goal is to attract new users to the cryptocurrency space, which may explain why the protocol’s TVL has increased from $57 million to $257 million in less than 3 months. STON.fi does not need centralized liquidity, limit orders, etc. because TON is simply not a chain for cutting-edge DeFi innovation or experimentation. Perhaps some similarities can be drawn to the Katana DEX on Ronin; some may consider the Katana DEX primitive, but simple is probably better given its use case of serving Web3 gaming users. STON.fi can be accessed from multiple Telegram wallets, and even from the built-in wallet of the Telegram app itself. Through the Open League Incentive Program, users can even earn less than 100% APY by LPing TON-sTON pairings, Tonstakers is the leading LST protocol on TON. While Ethereum mainnet, Arbitrum, and other chains may be completely focused on LRT and replenishment, there is still a large market for TON's liquid staking given its massive multi-billion dollar market cap. Depositors can currently expect an annual interest rate of 3.37%. With over $250 million in TVL and nearly 66,000 stakers, the protocol has seen considerable growth. It functions the same as a normal liquid staking protocol; users can participate in delegated validation through an asset pool (called the "Jetton Pool"), retaining liquidity receipt tokens, which in return increase in redemption value.  

The highlight of Tonstakers is that it is a highly liquid, composable and decentralized protocol. The protocol is also built in collaboration with TON Core developers and other integrated protocols within the ecosystem, including OKX, the leading TON wallet in Tonkeeper, etc.