Telegram simply stopped pretending it wasn’t running the show. The messaging giant has officially taken primary operational control of the $TONS blockchain on May 4, replacing the $TONS Foundation as main network operator. The market response was quick and unambiguous: Toncoin surged 36% in 24 hours, reaching $1.80, a four-month high.
Telegram is now the largest validator on the network, with around 2.2 million stakes $TONS. Transaction fees have been reduced to around 0.00039 $TONSwhich, according to Telegram, is around six times lower than previous levels. This rate remains valid regardless of network congestion.
By becoming the largest validator, Telegram gains direct influence over block production and network governance. It is a messaging platform with over 900 users, which forms the backbone of its own 1 million blockchain infrastructure.
Durov’s vision: technological superiority above all
Founder Pavel Durov structured the buyout around a concept he called “technological superiority.” In practical terms, this means new development tools, performance improvements and a complete overhaul of the Ton.org website, all promised within two to three weeks.
Previously, the company had required that all non-existent$TONS Mini-apps are migrating to the $TONS network by February 21, 2025. This deadline worked as a forcing mechanism, ensuring that the construction of the application ecosystem within Telegram’s platform would go through $TONS rather than competing channels.
What this means for investors
The 36% price increase tells you that the market likes this story. Telegram’s 900 million users represent a distribution advantage that almost no other blockchain project can match. Reducing fees also removes a common point of friction. At around 0.00039 $TONS per transaction without congestion premium, microtransactions become viable in a way they are not on chains where fees increase unpredictably.
On the risk side, Telegram becoming the largest validator on a blockchain it effectively controls creates a single point of failure. There is also the postman Pavel Durov. Durov’s legal journey, including his arrest in France in 2024, highlights a real concentration of risks linked to key people.
The next two to three weeks will tell us. The development tools and site redesign promised by Durov will validate the “technological superiority” framework or expose it as marketing language.
