The following is a guest post and opinion from Slavik Baranov, CEO at STON.fi Dev.

From Gaming Phenomenon to Financial Ambition

In 2024, the TON blockchain became one of the most talked-about ecosystems in crypto — not because of a groundbreaking DeFi protocol, but thanks to the meteoric rise of viral tap-to-earn games on Telegram. Titles like Hamster Kombat and Notcoin drew millions virtually overnight, pushing daily active wallets to nearly 2 million by September.

The surge proved TON can onboard users at a pace few blockchains can match. But it also exposed the fragility of hype-driven adoption: many players came for quick rewards and left when incentives ended. Speculative capital — fluid and opportunistic by nature — followed the same path.

Games showed TON’s reach. But they were never meant to be the foundation of a financial revolution.

The Lasting Impact of the Hype Cycle

The post-game cooldown wasn’t a collapse; it was a reset. In January 2024, before the gaming boom, TON averaged 26,000 daily active wallets. After the dust settled, activity stabilized at 100,000–200,000 — a multiple of its pre-hype base.

Even more importantly, developer and user inflows seeded growth across the ecosystem. The number of DeFi protocols on TON rose from 35 to 67 in 2024 — a 91% increase. This expansion reflects a gradual shift in focus from short-lived promotions to enduring financial infrastructure.

Building TON’s DeFi Landscape

TON’s DeFi sector now spans token swaps, staking, and lending. In early 2024, EVAA launched as the first lending protocol. By late summer, AMM protocol STON.fi had reached nearly $400 million in liquidity. Today, the leaders by total value locked (TVL) are the liquid staking protocol Tonstakers and the swap protocol STON.fi, reflecting user preference for core, high-liquidity services.

Fueled by gaming-related excitement, total value locked (TVL) across the network peaked at $1.1 billion in July 2024. But as incentive programs ended, TVL declined to around $600 million by early 2025 and now stands near $400 million.

These movements suggest that part of TON’s liquidity was influenced by short-term market dynamics. Funds tended to flow in during periods of attractive yields and gradually taper off as those opportunities diminished.

By the end of 2024, TON had nearly 38 million addresses, yet new wallet creation fell sharply — from 724,000 daily in autumn to just 33,000 in early 2025. Meanwhile, staking emerged as a safe haven: around 790 million TON are currently staked, concentrating liquidity in lower-risk, base-layer protocols.

Why the Revolution Hasn’t Happened Yet

Compared with Ethereum or Solana, TON’s liquidity depth and range of products are still developing. Part of this difference stems from its underlying design. TON’s architecture was created with massive scalability in mind, leading to technically elegant but more complex infrastructure for developers.

Smart contracts on TON use a low-level language, and many core components require building from the ground up, which may have contributed to a more gradual pace of DeFi development in its early years.

The trade-off? Low-level development can produce more efficient, resilient solutions over time. TON’s core team is actively reducing friction for builders, paving the way for faster growth.

Another factor is ecosystem dependence on Telegram. On one hand, this integration gives TON direct access to over 1 billion users and tangible utility — since 2024, Telegram channel owners have been able to receive ad revenue payouts in TON. On the other hand, it creates a single point of exposure: any disruption in Telegram instantly impacts TON.

For now, many average users still see Telegram mini-apps as casual games rather than financial tools. Without broadening beyond entertainment use cases, TON’s appeal to institutional capital remains constrained.

Unlocking TON’s DeFi Potential

The path forward is clear: expand beyond hype cycles and deliver mass-market financial services seamlessly integrated into the Telegram experience.

This could mean:

• Frictionless payments — sending crypto in a Telegram chat as easily as a text message.
• Everyday utility — paying for goods, services, or restaurant bills in TON-based tokens.
• Accessible lending — offering microloans and credit solutions in regions underserved by banks.

If executed well, these use cases could transform TON from a viral gaming phenomenon into a primary interface for global crypto adoption.

Signals of Institutional Confidence

Institutional investment is already validating TON’s potential. In March 2024, major players including Sequoia Capital, Draper Associates, Kingsway, CoinFund, Ribbit, and Skybridge invested in Toncoin.

In January 2025, Zodia Custody (a subsidiary of Standard Chartered) announced support for TON’s Jetton token standard, enabling banks and large investors to securely hold and manage TON assets. And in July 2025, The Open Platform — a developer of Telegram-based protocols and apps built on TON — secured $28.5 million at a $1 billion valuation from leading funds Ribbit Capital and Pantera Capital.

Conclusion: From Potential to Reality

The explosive growth of 2024 proved that pairing Telegram’s reach with blockchain’s capabilities can move markets. But true transformation will come only when TON evolves from a hype-fueled onramp into a robust financial ecosystem.

The fundamentals are in place: a growing developer base, improving infrastructure, and unprecedented distribution through Telegram. If TON’s DeFi sector can simplify the user experience and deliver essential, in-demand services where users already are, it won’t just participate in the future of digital finance — it could help define it.

Mentioned in this article

The Open Network (TON) Foundation’s golden visa slip-up in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) highlights the need for legal compliance and proper review, a local lawyer said.

A premature announcement about TON’s UAE golden visa aimed to benefit the community but ran into complex local crypto rules, according to NeosLegal founder Irina Heaver.

With five regulators overseeing crypto asset service providers’ (CASP) activity in the UAE and strict marketing rules by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), ensuring local compliance requires proper legal assessment.

“Even with support from local government officials, you still must promote crypto deals in full alignment with the federal and local laws,” Heaver told Cointelegraph, adding that CASP-regulated activities like staking and token-related offers require specific attention.

TON’s Golden Visa incident: the timeline of events

The TON Foundation announced a program on Saturday, a Toncoin (TON) staking opportunity that claimed to offer golden visas for holders to enter the UAE.

A group of UAE regulators promptly denied the news on Sunday, issuing a joint statement that golden visas are not issued to digital asset holders. VARA highlighted that the company behind TON was neither licensed nor regulated by the agency.

In the now-deleted announcement, TON said it was offering to secure a “10-year Golden Visa with a one-time $35,000 processing fee” in addition to staking $100,000 in Toncoin for three years.

The foundation has since clarified that the announcement was premature and that it is working with a licensed partner independently. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov had amplified the post by retweeting crypto influencer Ash Crypto’s claim that “TON has just partnered with the UAE,” though Durov deleted the tweet a day later.

“TON has just partnered with the UAE to offer a 10-year Golden Visa to TON stakers,” said the now-deleted X post by Ash Crypto, which was retweeted by Durov.

The retweeted post was live until Monday at 1:00 pm UTC at least, and then deleted by Durov. The original post remained live on Ash Crypto as of Tuesday at 10:00 am UTC.

Early warnings from CZ

Some prominent figures in the crypto community, including former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, were quick to question the credibility of TON’s announcement.

“Is this real?” CZ asked X in response to the announcement. “It would be awesome IF it is true. But I got conflicting info so far,” he said on Saturday.

CZ specifically referred to the lack of official information from government authorities related to the program, calling on the community to verify sources, no matter how reputable they are.

Related: Pavel Durov warns France is experiencing societal collapse

Despite early warnings, TON’s golden visa announcement generated significant excitement within the community, prompting a sharp price rally on Saturday, followed by a sell-off after UAE authorities denied involvement.

Legal reviews “can save millions of fines”

Despite the initial enthusiasm, the UAE’s swift denial turned the TON announcement into a cautionary tale. Legal experts said it’s a reminder that hype-driven announcements in the crypto space can backfire when not properly vetted.

“In a fast-moving space like ours, it’s tempting to prioritize hype and own Twitter feed for a day, but in the UAE, the laws are already well-established,” Heaver said.

“It takes a knowledgeable crypto lawyer just two to three hours to review marketing materials and flag potential issues, and that quick check can save weeks of regulatory headaches and millions of dirhams in fines,” she said, adding:

“It’s a reminder that legal review isn’t a blocker — it’s a builder of sustainable growth.”

VARA declined to comment any further on the incident to Cointelegraph, referring to the joint announcement posted on Sunday.

Magazine: Dogecoin set for rebound? Ripple eyes US banking license: Hodler’s Digest, June 29 – July 5

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