By
Temitope Olatunji
April 19th, 2024
According to the developers, TON will be released to investors in January. The mainnet launch of Gram is set to commence as early as March this year, with its debut in Japan.
Recently, it was reported that Telegram creator Pavel Durov was likely to present his Telegram Open Network (TON) and Gram token at the World Economic Forum that started yesterday in Davos, Switzerland. However, Durov himself did not give any comments on it. Finally, the team behind TON project has provided some details about the launch of the platform.
Based on cryptographically protected distributed registries, the Telegram Open Network is intended to be a competitor to Ethereum for the launch and execution of smart contracts and decentralized applications. In November 2018, TON platform was reportedly 70% ready. According to those familiar with the matter, the test version of the platform is already available for some investors, and official launch of TON platform is planned for the second half of this year.
As the developers said, Telegram Open Network will be demonstrated to investors in January. The mainnet launch of its digital currency Gram is set to take place as early as March this year. The token may make its debut in Japan.
According to Russian-language media outlet The Bell, the meeting of the project’s major investors will take place within the next four weeks. TON is currently 90% ready. The developers state they are ready for the launch in early 2019, however, they note that a slight delay of two-three months is possible, because of the innovative nature of the project.
Pavel Durov announced the launch of the TON blockchain platform in late 2017. TON is expected to deal with the problem of scalability. According to Durov, transactions on the platform will be handled much faster compared with competitors, Bitcoin and Etherium.
Being an entirely new blockchain platform, TON will process millions of transaction per second. For developing the platform, Durov united centralized and decentralized infrastructure. Decentralization will allow users to avoid traffic overlap. Moreover, Telegram users may be enabled to store not only Gram but also fiat currencies in their wallets.
Telegram intends to save at least 52% of Gram in order to secure the currency from speculations and provide flexibility. 44% will be realized, and 4% will be kept for Telegram employees.
In 2018, some $1.7 billion was raised in funding for the Gram and the TON platform. Initially, the launch of the platform was set for the autumn of 2019, but Durov postponed the event. Last week, Telegram CEO week claimed that “2019 will be the most important year in the history of the company,” and it seems he is right.
To make the new currency popular, Durov is going to apply to more than 180 million Telegram users. Due to the popularity of the messenger, Gram may become the influential currency, Telegram CEO believes.
Currently, the team behind TON is studying international law in order to expand in ten countries. Currently, they are working with Japan, China, and Great Britain.
In Russia, where some politicians are talking about the cryptocurrencies replacing the US dollar, the TON project may gain high traction, as the authorities have a positive attitude towards digital currencies. The Ministry of Economic Development has stated that it is working on a draft bill that would allow some Russian companies to pilot the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in inter-business settlements.
In the Kaliningrad region, as well as the federal republic of Tatarstan, this proposal has already received the support of authorities. The bill could be discussed as early as this spring.