Despite a marked downturn in the Toncoin market cap, TON Foundation board member Steve Yun remains optimistic about The Open Network’s (TON) potential. Yun, who also founded TON-focused TVM Ventures, identifies Telegram’s exclusive support of TON as a necessary strategy for ensuring security and scalability for the app’s expansive user base.
Telegram made TON its sole supported network for Mini Apps, following a partnership with the TON Foundation. This move sparked a range of reactions, with apprehension centering on Telegram’s commitment to decentralization and fears over liquidity and stability. Despite such concerns, Yun maintains that TON was specifically designed to meet the high network capacity demands of Telegram’s 950 million users.
Yun also raised the issue of security. He suggests that use of an unscalable blockchain could lead to compromise on security and believes that Telegram bots supporting multiple blockchains can assuage fears about centralization. Moreover, he claims that the exclusive partnership between TON and Telegram could only bolster TON’s appeal.
However, TON must grapple with the recent downfall of Toncoin – the blockchain’s native cryptocurrency. After peaking in market cap in April 2024, the cryptocurrency has since plummeted by 64%. In response to this, Yun launched TVM Ventures, a fund focused on promoting the development of decentralized finance and payment finance applications. Over the next year, he plans to distribute about $25 million from the fund. Despite the current challenges, Yun remains focused on building a scalable decentralized platform through TVM.