Pavel Durov confirms himself as the largest verifier of Telegram’s TON and stakes 2.2 million tokens

According to a May 8 report by BeInCrypto, Telegram founder Pavel Durov confirmed that Telegram has officially replaced the TON Foundation and become the largest validator on The Open Network (TON) blockchain; to secure the largest validator slot, Telegram has staked approximately 2.2 million TON tokens.

Telegram Takes Over as TON’s Largest Validator: Background and Technical Significance

According to BeInCrypto, Durov said this move is the third phase of his plan to “make TON great again,” aiming to place Telegram at the core of TON blockchain infrastructure. Telegram currently has more than 1 billion active users, and establishing the validator role means TON’s core maintenance entity has shifted from an independent foundation to Telegram itself.

Alexander Tobol, Chief Technology Officer of the Telegram Wallet, said in an interview with BeInCrypto that the TON blockchain was initially built by the Telegram team before becoming an open-source project; this change in validators shows that Telegram is increasing its investment in TON. Tobol said: “Under these circumstances, due to Telegram’s internal retail usage, TON could become the blockchain with the largest number of active wallets.” He also said that Telegram’s transfers, payments, and mini-program services could ultimately run on TON, and that growth in the next phase will depend on bot (Bot) and mini-app (Mini-App) functionality.

Catchain 2.0 Technical Upgrade: Performance and Fee Data

Based on data provided by Storm Trade founder Denis Vasin in a presentation shared with BeInCrypto, the Catchain 2.0 upgrade brings the following technical improvements:

Block processing time: reduced from about 2.5 seconds to 400 milliseconds

Final execution time: reduced from about 10 seconds to 1 second

Per-transaction fee: lowered by about six times, down to about $0.0005

Maximum throughput: over 100,000 transactions per second (TPS)

In the presentation, Vasin positioned TON as “one of the Layer-1 blockchains with the highest throughput,” saying that fast finality confirmation and low costs make it suitable for frequent small-value payment scenarios. He also said: “If this kind of integration can be continuously implemented, TON will get what most Layer-1 blockchains lack—native distribution and real user use cases.”

Industry Viewpoints: Integration Potential and Execution Risk Coexist

Based on Vasin’s interview with BeInCrypto, he said the architecture for the Telegram–TON integration already aligns with the design investors expected back in 2018, and noted that TON currently offers about 15% annualized staking rewards, which helps maintain network liquidity.

Vasin also cautioned that there was a prior event involving large-scale selling of Toncoin led by Telegram, and holders need to be mindful of Telegram’s dual role in the TON ecosystem as both buyer and seller. He said that this rally reflects broad market expectations, and whether Telegram can continue converting its distribution advantages into on-chain revenue will be a key verification metric going forward.

FAQ

What are the source and staking scale behind the news that Telegram replaced the TON Foundation as the largest validator?

According to a May 8, 2026 report by BeInCrypto, Telegram founder Pavel Durov confirmed the above information; Telegram has staked approximately 2.2 million TON tokens to obtain the TON network’s largest validator slot and has officially taken over the former role of the TON Foundation.

What are TON’s core technical metrics after the Catchain 2.0 upgrade?

According to data provided by Storm Trade founder Denis Vasin in a BeInCrypto presentation, after the Catchain 2.0 upgrade TON’s block processing time was reduced to 400 milliseconds, final execution time was reduced to 1 second, the per-transaction fee is about $0.0005, and maximum throughput exceeds 100,000 transactions per second.

What is the basis for Telegram Wallet CTO’s expectation that TON could become the blockchain with the most active wallets?

According to Telegram Wallet CTO Alexander Tobol’s interview with BeInCrypto, his expectation is based on Telegram having more than 1 billion active users and plans to integrate transfers, payments, and mini-program functions on TON; Tobol said that if the above integration is realized, TON could become the blockchain with the largest number of active wallets.