Telegram founder: Acton replaces a scattered tool stack, boosting TON smart contract development speed by 10x

According to a post by Telegram founder Pavel Durov on X on May 12, TON Core has launched a unified smart contract toolchain called Acton, which went live on May 8. Durov said Acton increases TON smart contract development speed by 10x, replacing TON’s previously fragmented tool stack with a unified development workflow, and it also supports AI.

Acton Toolchain Core Functions and Technical Architecture

According to Durov’s announcement on X, Acton is an integrated command-line interface (CLI) tool built with Tolk as its core language. It covers the full development process—from project creation, testing, debugging, dApp integration, deployment to verification. Durov said in the announcement: “The new toolchain makes creating, testing, and deploying smart contracts easy and convenient. More importantly, it fully supports AI, replacing TON’s original fragmented tool stack with a unified development process.”

According to publicly available information, when Acton launched, it came pre-installed with templates designed to quickly deploy TON’s native Jetton token standard. Developers can use the base test token $JET (functionally similar to TST on BNB Chain) to test contract minting, transfers, and metadata management capabilities before the official rollout. According to Acton’s tool design documentation, after developers select a template and customize it, Acton’s AI feature can convert smart contracts into “agents” that can autonomously execute complex on-chain operation sequences.

Current State of the TON Ecosystem: Tolk Language Background and Q1 2026 Data

According to publicly available information, the Tolk language (the technical foundation of Acton) was officially released in July 2025 with the Tolk 1.0 version. It is a programming language dedicated to the TON Virtual Machine (TVM); after the upgrade, it reduces Gas fees by as much as 40%.

According to publicly available data, TON’s average daily transaction volume in the first quarter of 2026 exceeded 1 million transactions. TON’s total value locked (TVL) recently surpassed $1 billion, partly attributed to the deep integration between TON and Telegram. In addition to Acton, TON Core is also preparing other ecosystem upgrades, including a Proxy Wallet.

FAQ

What are the time and core content of Pavel Durov’s announcement about TON Acton?

According to a post by Telegram founder Pavel Durov on X dated May 12, 2026, TON Core launched the unified smart contract toolchain Acton, which officially went live on May 8, 2026. Durov said it increases development speed by 10x and fully supports AI.

What technical architecture does the Acton toolchain adopt, and what development processes does it cover?

According to Durov’s announcement and publicly available information, Acton is built on the Tolk language dedicated to the TON Virtual Machine, and it is an integrated CLI tool that covers the entire workflow, including project creation, testing, debugging, dApp integration, deployment, and verification. It also comes with pre-installed Jetton token deployment templates.

What are the main ecosystem scale data for TON right now?

According to publicly available data, TON’s average daily transaction volume in the first quarter of 2026 exceeded 1 million transactions, and TVL recently surpassed $1 billion. The Tolk 1.0 language was released in July 2025, reducing Gas fees by as much as 40%.