The Open Network
The Open Network (TON) is an open decentralized network developed by the community based on technology from Telegram, a Layer 1 blockchain. The core of the TON concept is the idea of a decentralized Internet, which is inextricably linked to the mass use of decentralized technologies and cryptocurrencies. The developers' task is to make using the blockchain as easy as using familiar mobile applications.
TON's mission is to create and use the latest technologies that enable the open, free, decentralized exchange of value, information and ideas. Technologies that are designed to protect the freedom, privacy and rights of all people, to make this world a more balanced and self-governing place.
History
After announcing the completion of TON (Telegram Open Network – a decentralized computer network developed by Telegram team) in May 2020, the Telegram team made the project code available to the public, which allowed independent projects to implement TON ideas.
On May 29, 2020, a community of independent developers, validators, winners of public Telegram contests and crypto-enthusiasts announced the continuation of work on the project. The first name of the project was "NEWTON."
The team continued to maintain and develop the original testnet2 network from the Telegram team, which was launched on November 15, 2019.
In May 2021, the community voted to change the name of the testnet2 network to mainnet. And the name "NEWTON" changed to "TON Foundation", which became a non-profit community aimed at further developing and supporting the network. мини|400x400пкс|TON Blockchain within the Telegram app On June 29, 2021, the Telegram team agreed to transfer the ton.org domain and a GitHub account to The Open Network community in response to an open letter.
On August 9, 2021 EXMO announced the listing of the Toncoin cryptocurrency, which became the TON native coin. It is used for network transactions, transactions, games or collectibles in products built on the TON blockchain. Today, Toncoin is among the top 15 coins in the CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko rankings.
On July 6, 2020, mining of all available Mooncoin coins began (98.55% of the total stock). The coins were placed in special PoW Giver smart contracts, which allowed everyone to participate in their distribution until June 28, 2022. About 200,000 TONS were mined daily.
On September 2023, at the TOKEN2049 conference, the TON Foundation and Telegram announced the launch of TON Space, a non-custodial space that gives users full control over their Wallet-based digital assets right within Telegram.
On October 31, during a public performance test, TON managed to break the world record for the number of transactions per second, achieving a result of 108,409 TPS.
On November 10-11, 2023, the first independent live TON conference – The Gateway – was held in Dubai.
On January 29, 2024, the pilot season of the TON ecosystem user incentive program — The Open League was launched.
Technology
мини|Hack-a-TON DoraHacks The TON blockchain uses a Proof-Of-Stake (POS) consensus algorithm.
The creation, development, and deployment of smart contracts utilizes the FunC and Fift programming languages and the TON Virtual Machine (TVM). All TON smart contracts run independently on the TVM. TVM is stack-based, making it efficient and easy to implement.
TON focuses on achieving broad interoperability while operating in a highly scalable secure environment.
TON is designed to handle millions of transactions per second (TPS) with the goal of eventually reaching hundreds of millions of users in the future.
Today, TON is technologically ahead of previous generations of blockchains, especially in its ability to scale to accommodate large numbers of users and transactions.
The TON blockchain is designed as a distributed supercomputer, or "superserver," designed to provide a variety of products and services that promote a decentralized vision of a new Internet.
TON is a decentralized and open Internet platform consisting of several components. These include the blockchain itself (decentralized network), TON DeNS, TON Storage, and other components. The TON blockchain is the core protocol that connects the underlying TON infrastructure together to form the larger TON ecosystem.
Utilization
Developers can run their decentralized applications on the TON blockchain, and users can actively use them in their daily lives.
With the TON blockchain it is possible not only to safely store funds on a personal wallet without intermediaries and send coins in any amount whenever and wherever you want with minimal fees, but also to use a variety of decentralized applications based on TON. As of today, there are already more than 550 TON-based applications running. мини|Tonkeeper Wallet Interface
Tonkeeper
The first non-custodial wallet for storing, sending and receiving Toncoin. You can also use the wallet to make transactions with TON Jettons, as well as store, send and receive digital collectibles and other NFTs. You are in sole control of your funds and are responsible for the secure storage of your seed-phrase to access the wallet.
STON.fi
A decentralized AMM exchange built on the TON blockchain, providing virtually zero fees, low slippage, an extremely simple interface and direct integration with TON wallets. The exchange is available to exchange Toncoin for TON tokens, stablecoins, wrapped BTC, ETH and other coins. In addition, on STON.fi you can supply liquidity and generate farming yields.
TON Proxy
A network proxy and anonymizer layer designed for TON nodes, TON Proxy is like an invisible internet project (I2P) that facilitates the creation of decentralized VPN services and blockchain-based alternatives to TOR. This capability enhances online privacy and facilitates the creation of decentralized applications that can be more resistant to censorship. As of September 30, 2022, TON Proxy has become compatible with HTTP Proxy.
TON DNS
Launched on June 30, 2022, TON DNS works similarly to domain names associated with other cryptocurrencies, offering ".ton" as its domain zone. The program assigns digestible names to accounts, smart contracts, services, and network nodes. This service simplifies the process of accessing decentralized applications by allowing users to use short and simple domain names rather than long strings of alphanumeric characters. Domain names can also be linked to wallet addresses. мини|Big TON GameFi Workshop
TON Storage
On December 31, 2022, TON Storage, a decentralized file storage system, was introduced. TON Storage is a distributed file storage system accessible via the TON P2P network, resembling a torrent-like technology that uses smart contracts for reliability. TON Storage provides a platform for storing and sharing large amounts of data using the TON blockchain network, aiming to eliminate the need for centralized web servers.
Fragment
The Fragment platform auctions username and anonymous Telegram numbers on the TON blockchain. Recently, the purchase of Telegram Premium subscription for Toncoin has been added.
Community
Today's TON community was spearheaded by Anatoly Makosov and Kirill Emelianenko, who initiated its creation in 2020. Pavel Durov publicly supported the community.
TON developers are located around the world and work remotely. Each member of the core team is a generalist. No release is made by any one person, any update is tested by at least three team members and a public bug bounty.
Since 2022, TON has been working with the best external teams to audit code, find vulnerabilities and bugs in it: CertiK, Trail of Bits, Hexens, Quantstamp and others.
Now the core team is more focused on working on the core – node, compiler, system smart contracts and some infrastructure services like blockchain bridging.
TON already has quite a few independent teams and developers, creative people who make different products. TON has become "community-driven."
TON has a grant program to support promising ideas and solutions useful for the development of the TON ecosystem.
The total number of TON Community members has already exceeded 4 million.