The TON Foundation announced $400M in new token-based financing

The TON Foundation, the organization for initiatives on the TON blockchain, has announced a $400M token-based round of financing. The specific price for a new asset is not disclosed, but the Foundation will tap some of the Tier 1 funds in crypto space. 

The TON Foundation, an entity for developing projects on the TON blockchain, has expanded with new sources of financing. The Foundation announced a $400M token-based financing round backed by some of the biggest funds in the industry. The investors will buy additional TON in order to support the ecosystem.

TON Foundation will draw funding from Sequoia Capital, Ribbit, Benchmark, Kingsway, Vy Capital, Draper Associates, and others. The TON Foundation itself works as a Tier 3 fund, with curated investments and programs for TON-based startups and projects.

TON Foundation aims to onboard more Telegram users to Web3 apps

The Telegram app is the main growth factor for the potential adoption of the TON Chain. The chat app already carries over 1B monthly active users, of which several million have tried crypto-related groups. 

The $400M in fresh capital will target precisely those users, with another drive to achieve mainstream crypto adoption. The TON Chain already offers several tools for combining the app with on-chain interaction, including the TON token and Stars, as well as turning the app’s stickers into NFT. 

‘The TON ecosystem has huge potential energy and a significant distribution advantage, especially in gaming, stablecoin payments, and remittances,’ said Alex Felix, Co-Founder and CIO at CoinFund. ‘As exemplified through our investment in StonFi, CoinFund continues to be bullish on the growth of the TON ecosystem as a whole and the opportunities ahead for the Foundation.’

The TON Foundation also aims to drive the adoption of the TON Chain as part of the Telegram ecosystem. The Foundation is now driving the TON Chain’s expansion to the US market while striving to make the ecosystem more widely accepted. TON has become the exclusive Telegram asset, removing some wallet complexity and the usage of multiple coins and tokens. 

TON still aims to be among the top chains, tapping the Telegram user base. Currently, TON remains a relatively niche token, limited to specific usages in Telegram groups. 

The TON Foundation aims to increase that number of interactions. By 2028, the Foundation aims to onboard up to 30% of Telegram users to Web3 and the TON Chain.

There will be four main use cases to draw in mainstream users. The TON Foundation will work toward expanding stickers, gifts and other native digital assets on Telegram. 

Telegram mini-games, multiplayer features and other Web3 games with blockchain-backed assets can also continue to grow on Telegram. DeFi projects will also be integrated with the app, offering savings and secure yield generation. 

The Foundation will also support the creation of real-world payment utility through stablecoin transactions, remittances, and general financial services. The TON chain already has $160M in value locked, with another $908.4M in stablecoins, either bridged or native.

Until now, the TON Foundation limited itself to seed rounds, mostly tied to general Web3 features on the TON Chain. The Foundation supported the Ston.Fi DEX, Hot Protocol, and the Fanton Fantasy game. Other TON-based projects have completed their own forms of fundraising while only receiving occasional support from grants. 

The TON ecosystem was highly active during the Web3 boom, and the native TON token managed to keep its price above $5 for months. However, the bearish market affected TON, along with other games and apps in the ecosystem. After the period of airdrop farming ended, most of the apps and groups lost users. 

TON also slid to a lower price range and moved away from the top 10 coins and tokens. TON traded at $3.77, ranked 13th based on market capitalization. TON may come under price pressure as more unlocks are expected in 2025. Currently, around 58M TON are unlocked, but by the end of the year, a total of over 166M TON will enter the market. The project will also add new owners after the $400M token purchase.

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