For those who are up to speed with what’s going on in the cryptocurrency market, Toncoin (TON) is probably a familiar figure already. For those who haven’t had the time or the curiosity to see past heavyweights Bitcoin and Ethereum and dive deeper into the crypto space, this name might not say much.
However, Toncoin’s origin story remains largely unknown for both the connoisseurs and the clueless, which is a shame not only because Toncoin has become one of the most attractive and promising tokens in the market, particularly since its listing on Binance on August 8th, 2024, but also because its journey from inception to today is quite remarkable, serving as an example of resilience and resurgence.
With Toncoin currently ranking 12th in the crypto hierarchy in terms of popularity and market cap and the latest Ton coin price prediction for 2025 and beyond being quite optimistic, it’s certainly worth looking into the asset’s trajectory from the past to the present and learning more about its progress.
Telegram’s brainchild
Toncoin’s beginnings are linked to Telegram Messenger, the popular social messaging platform launched by brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov in August 2013. After a rather lackluster inauguration, the app started to quickly gain traction, with its user base expanding to 50 million by December 2014 and over 1 billion messages delivered daily. Telegram’s advanced privacy features, high security levels, speed, and ease of use were what attracted people to the platform in the first place, turning it into one of the most popular social networks in the world.
The commitment to constant innovation emphasized by the introduction of new concepts and features meant to expand the platform’s capabilities eventually led the company to explore the territory of decentralization and blockchain technology. After concluding that none of the existing Layer 1 blockchain solutions were able to integrate with the app and support its growing user base, Telegram decided the best course of action was to develop a proprietary Layer 1 chain, which they did in 2018 when they announced the launch of the Telegram Open Network (TON) and its associated GRAM token.
The purpose was to design a blockchain network that could provide high speed and security, scalability, and low fees, enabling the processing of millions of transactions per second, making it infinitely more efficient than old-school blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum. As TON’s native token, GRAM was meant to facilitate operations on the platform, such as payments and the deployment of decentralized applications (dApps), and contribute to the growth of the Telegram ecosystem.
Regulatory hurdles
In theory, the Telegram Open Network had every chance to become a success, leveraging Telegram’s popularity to carve its path into the crypto realm. Everything seemed to be going well until legal complications arose and stopped the project’s development in its tracks.
In 2019, a few weeks before TON’s official launch date, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stepped in and filed a lawsuit against Telegram, stating that the GRAM tokens represented unregistered securities and, therefore, their selling violated US federal law. On the other hand, Telegram claimed that labeling its tokens as unregistered securities went against the Supreme Court’s precedents, as well as the SEC’s own approach to other cryptocurrencies.
Despite their stance, Telegram agreed to put off TON’s launch and token distribution until all legal issues were clarified. Unfortunately for Telegram, they lost the lawsuit, and in 2020, they agreed to abandon the project after returning $1.2 billion to investors and paying an $18.5 million settlement to the SEC.
Revival and rebranding
After the disastrous legal clash with the SEC, everyone thought this would be the end of TON. However, the project had already attracted a strong community that insisted on keeping the initiative alive. A group of independent software developers known as NewTON decided to take matters into their own hands and resume the project’s development under a new brand name. Therefore, the Telegram Open Network turned into The Open Network, and the GRAM token became Toncoin, with its token ticker $TON.
This represented a fresh start for the TON network and its native crypto, leaving behind the regulatory challenges that marked the first years of development. Under the new brand, the project thrived and managed to capture the interest of a growing number of traders and investors. Structure-wise, TON operates as an independent Layer 1 blockchain that utilizes a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism to validate transactions and ensure network security.
In 2023, Telegram’s and TON’s paths united again when the parent company announced they would incorporate TON into their ecosystem and use it to build their official Web3 infrastructure.
In 2024, Toncoin reached a new all-time high of $8.25, registering year-over-year (YoY) gains of over 160%. The price evolution and Toncoin’s growing popularity among investors reflect the asset’s strength and endurance, signaling that everything has come full circle and the TON project finally got the recognition it deserved.
Prospects for the future
Toncoin’s path hasn’t been easy, with regulatory scrutiny and legal actions overshadowing the network’s potential. But in the end, the project managed to emerge as a standout player in the blockchain and crypto space and left its troubled past behind.
Looking ahead, most predictions seem to paint a bright future for TON and its native coin. The boldest forecasts see the token jump to $20 in 2025, which wouldn’t be all that surprising considering the bullish trend that has formed in the last months, which boosted crypto prices across the board. Analysts have come up with even more optimistic scenarios for the long haul, with the Toncoin price projected to surge well above $30 by 2030.
Bottom line
Whether Toncoin’s future is as promising as the predictions make it out to be remains to be seen. There are many factors out there that could impact its evolution both negatively and positively, so we have no certainties at the moment. However, judging by its evolution so far, Toncoin is, without a doubt, an interesting asset to keep track of.
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