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Overview
The Open Network (TON) has established itself as a decentralized, high-performance, layer-1 blockchain built by Telegram in 2018. What's the story behind TON and its native currency, Toncoin? Let's delve deeper.
Toncoin, which had its initial moniker as Gram, underwent development till 2020. In its developmental phase, Gram gained immense traction, amassing $1.7 billion in sales. Pavel Durov, the brainchild behind the project, eventually announced an official ICO. Despite Telegram's attempt to steer clear from being classified as a security by the SEC, the agency dubbed the initial investors as underwriters, and thereby, a security.
The tussle between Durov and the SEC ended in favor of the latter, compelling Durov to refund $1.2 billion to the investors and pay a hefty penalty of $18.5 million. Although the original project was forsaken, the baton was then taken up by the TON Foundation, an amalgamation of supporters and a zealous community, who rebranded it from "Telegram Open Network" to "The Open Network."
TON Tech
TON's architecture is predicated on the principle of sharding. It segments the blockchain into numerous subnets, with each shard serving a distinct purpose. This sharding mechanism augments transaction speeds and safeguards the network against the accumulation of unverified blocks.
From tokens, NFTs, staking, domain names to marketplaces, wallets, DEXs, and other DeFi services, TON offers nearly anything other L1 smart contract blockchains can. TON has formed crucial bridges with Ethereum, BSC, and Orbit Bridge, extending its interoperability. Its native cryptocurrency, TON, facilitates smart contract execution, dApp usage, and governance participation. As of 2023, TON is supported by ~230 validators and has registered 1.35 million addresses.
Staking
Functioning on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) framework, TON leverages its native currency to validate transactions and reward its validators. Nominators, on the other hand, get rewarded for lending their tokens to validators. They stake their assets in pools, with smart contracts overseeing the interactions between nominators and validators. TON has also gained acceptance as a payment medium within its blockchain. Given its parameters, the current annual inflation rate hovers around 0.6%.
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Validator: Validators, pivotal in a PoS network, earn through validating transactions. The prerequisites for becoming a validator encompass high-performance hardware, robust internet connectivity, and staking Toncoin. Aspiring validators need to stake ~600,000 Toncoins.
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Nominator: Nominators amalgamate their assets, channeling them to validators, subsequently earning rewards. Once the blockchain issues the rewards, they are evenly dispersed amongst the pool members. This mechanism ensures validators utilize the lent tokens solely for validation, ensuring an equitable distribution of rewards.
The ever-evolving landscape of cryptocurrency sees TON delving into diverse staking pools, presenting users with an array of APRs, fees, and reward structures. Whales Team, coupled with burgeoning staking protocols such as bemo and pTON.fi, boasts the highest APRs, though it's essential to note TonStake’s reported APR integrates compounding.
Liquid staking stands as a revolutionary advancement, allowing users the luxury of staking assets without stringent lock-in stipulations. Lido, having consolidated its foothold in the Ethereum ecosystem, has broadened its horizon, marking its presence across platforms like Solana, Polygon, Polkadot, and Kusama. Now, TON embraces the allure of liquid staking.
In collaboration with DWF Labs, bemo introduces TON to liquid staking. This collaboration encourages users to deposit their Toncoin and receive stTON tokens in return. The flexibility of these stTON tokens is paramount, as they can seamlessly integrate with other DeFi protocols for yield rewards or function as collateral in lending schemes. All these utilities come without necessitating the withdrawal of the staked Toncoin.
In conclusion, TON's foray into liquid staking is indicative of the platform's progressive mindset, ensuring users enjoy flexibility, security, and optimal returns.
