The value of the TON token surged by 36% following Pavel Durov’s announcement that Telegram would take over The Open Network from the TON Foundation, become its largest validator, and reduce transaction fees to almost zero.
“We’re focusing on technical superiority with a new ton.org site, enhanced development tools, and performance upgrades coming in two to three weeks,” tweeted Durov on Tuesday.
Transaction fees within TON have been reduced by sixfold to nearly zero. Telegram’s role as the new driving force behind TON is its next step.
At press time, according to CoinGecko data, the TON token was trading at $1.86, marking a 36% increase for the day yet still over 77% below its peak of $8.25 in September 2024.
The ton.org domain now displays a placeholder page stating: “ton.org is now controlled by MTONGA. Expect changes soon.”
Decrypto has reached out to the TON Foundation for additional comments. Illia Otychenko, Lead Analyst at CEX.IO, noted to Decrypt that this rally aligns with past trends where Telegram’s involvement or integration signals led to similar surges in Toncoin’s value.
“This resembles an early-stage narrative-driven spike more than a fundamental revaluation,” he remarked. “$2 is a significant resistance level that TON has not breached this year, and the momentum indicators suggest caution.”
Otychenko added, “The daily RSI indicates overbought conditions, which typically precede short-term corrections. A pullback around or after the upgrade could be likely if traders start cashing out post-announcement.”
Ben Caselin, CMO at crypto exchange VALR, echoed these sentiments to Decrypt, highlighting that markets often react positively to announcements and then adjust upon execution. He drew parallels to Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade, where fee reductions did not result in sustained price gains.
“Durov has positioned Telegram as TON’s future leader, prompting a market response,” Caselin observed. “The real test will be whether near-zero fees lead to sustained growth in transactions and usage within Telegram-specific contexts.”
Otychenko noted that while lower fees could enhance network use, they might not directly translate into value for the token itself. He emphasized that long-term appreciation hinges on increased utility or holding reasons for Toncoin.
Meanwhile, TON meme coins soared alongside the native token, with their combined market cap reaching $156 million as per CoinGecko’s report. Notably, $NOT gained double-digit percentages, while $DOGS and $UTYA climbed over 100% and 140%, respectively, within 24 hours.
Durov’s travel ban was lifted by French authorities last November after legal challenges following his arrest in August 2024 on charges including complicity in drug trafficking. His passport was reinstated the previous March, boosting TON by 29%. In October, he launched Cocoon, a decentralized AI compute network leveraging TON that compensates GPU owners with Toncoin for private AI inference tasks, challenging cloud giants like AWS and Azure.