Telegram takes over TON, cutting fees by 6x and driving the token up 24%

On May 7, Toncoin (TON) surged more than 24% within 24 hours, reaching $2.20 and hitting a new high since November last year. On Monday, Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced on X that Telegram has become the largest validator node on the TON network, and also announced that transaction fees have been cut 6-fold to 0.00039 TON.

The significance of Telegram directly stepping in: eliminating long-standing core concerns

When Telegram announces that it will personally become the largest validator node, it is essentially removing a core doubt that has long suppressed TON’s valuation—namely the gap between Telegram’s grand vision and the TON Foundation’s actual execution power.

Becoming a validator means Telegram will assume direct network security responsibility, providing the most convincing institutional endorsement for TON’s long-term development—far beyond the impact of any public relations statement. The market’s positive reaction to this move also confirms that the question of “whether Telegram will truly and seriously push TON” has always been a key variable constraining its valuation.

The strategic logic behind a 6-fold fee cut: a prerequisite for high-frequency, small-ticket scenarios

Compressing transaction costs to near zero is the underlying infrastructure premise of Telegram’s core business model:

Group-chain tipping: instant small-ticket interaction payments between chat rooms

On-chain games and bot services: micro-transactions with high frequency such as item purchases and service subscriptions

Small-ticket NFT transactions: buying and selling consumer-priced digital assets

Personal micro-payments: everyday transfer scenarios worth a few to a few dozen yuan

For real consumers whose transactions involve only a few dollars each time, even a $0.5 fee is enough to kill the commercial viability of an entire application scenario. With almost zero fixed costs, TON can shift from “crypto speculation markets” to a consumer-grade real economy serving Telegram’s one-billion-plus monthly active users.

The harsh reality of fundamentals: can the rally be supported by data?

However, Telegram’s strategic announcement needs to be compared with existing on-chain data.

Key TON ecosystem metrics right now

Total Value Locked (TVL): about $69 million (2024 peak was nearly $800 million)

Daily transaction fee revenue: about $3,600

DEX daily trading volume: about $29 million

dApp daily revenue: about $134,000

Daily active transaction count: fewer than 50,000 times (about 136,000 unique wallets)

Compared with the peak in Aug–Sep 2024: over 2.2 million wallets and nearly 700,000 transactions per day

Existing data shows that the actual usage of the TON ecosystem still has a huge gap from the highs in 2024. This rally more reflects the market repricing expectations for Telegram’s involvement rather than any real improvement in ecosystem fundamentals.

Common questions

What does Telegram becoming the largest TON validator node concretely mean for the ecosystem?

Validator nodes verify transactions on the TON network and maintain blockchain security. Holding the largest share means Telegram has the most important say in TON’s governance and security mechanisms. This shift makes TON’s ecosystem advancement strategy directly driven by Telegram’s business strategy instead of relying on decisions by an independent foundation, fundamentally changing TON’s governance structure.

How does a 6-fold fee reduction drive TON ecosystem expansion for real?

Near-zero fees remove the biggest commercial obstacle for consumer-grade applications, making tipping, games, and small-payment scenarios for Telegram users commercially feasible. However, low fees are only a necessary condition. To convert Telegram’s massive user base into on-chain active users, there also needs to be truly attractive applications and a smooth on-chain usage experience.

Can TON’s current fundamentals support this rally?

Based on current data, TVL is only about $69 million and daily active wallets are only about 136,000—an enormous gap compared with Telegram’s user scale. This rally is mainly driven by expectations. If, over the next few months, the developer tools and ecosystem projects announced by Telegram do not bring a substantive rebound in active users, pressure for short-term valuation correction is likely to emerge as well.