The Open Network (TON) is a layer-one blockchain closely connected to Telegram. After the Catchain 2.0 upgrade, block creation time was reduced to 400 milliseconds.
Now, transfers take about a second, and transactions are nearly instant. TON says that decentralized apps are already approaching the speed of regular services.
Faster blocks increase validator rewards, as more blocks are created on the network. At the same time, annual inflation of TON is expected to rise about sixfold — from around 0.6% to 3.6% after the upgrade. This figure reflects the issuance of new Toncoin.
“More blocks mean more rewards for validators, which strengthens staking incentives and attracts more TON to the network,” TON said in a statement.
The upgrade is based on the Catchain consensus algorithm, which was proposed back in 2020. Now the network operates with almost instant transaction confirmation. This is especially important given that TON is integrated into an app with an audience of over 1 billion users worldwide.
On Thursday, TON rose by 2.3% and was trading around $1.28, according to CoinMarketCap. Trading volume reached $130.1 million and increased by more than 35%. Market capitalization was $3.17 billion.
TON TPS after the Catchain 2.0 upgrade. Source: TON Explorer
Telegram Remains a Tool for Communication and Crypto Payments Worldwide
Pavel Durov says that bans in Iran and Russia have changed almost nothing. People kept using Telegram and continue to use it.
Moreover, the bans only fueled interest. Users began massively installing VPNs and easily bypassing restrictions.
“Authorities expected users to switch to government-controlled messengers. But in the end, everyone just started using VPNs,” Durov said.
Integration with TON allows users to send crypto right inside Telegram. You can send money to other users and businesses without extra steps.
In February, Telegram wallets introduced self-custody storage. This allows users to earn income from BTC, USDT from Tether and ETH.
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A little later, another feature was added — trading perpetual futures right in the app.
The integration was done together with the decentralized exchange Lighter. Through it, you can trade perpetual futures not only on crypto, but also on stocks, commodities, precious metals, and energy resources.
