By
Temitope Olatunji
April 26th, 2024
TON is set to receive a $20,000 grant from KuCoin’s investment arm to support the exchange’s efforts at building GameFi and payment-based mini apps.
KuCoin Ventures, the investment arm of Seychelles-based crypto exchange KuCoin, has announced a partnership with The Open Network (TON) Foundation. The exchange platform’s investment arm plans to award a grant of $20,000 to help fortify and expand the TON ecosystem. This collaboration signals a significant milestone in encouraging relationships between exchanges and public blockchain networks.
This joint initiative is to champion the advancement of five TON-based mini-apps, primarily focusing on revolutionizing payment systems and pioneering innovative GameFi platforms within the Web3 space.
TON Foundation’s Accelerator Head Ian Wittkopp emphasized the impact of KuCoin Ventures’ support of the mini-app development within The Open Network. He expressed his enthusiasm saying:
“Today’s partnership with KuCoin Ventures is an acceleration point in the momentum of mini-app development on The Open Network… KuCoin Ventures’ efforts align with TON’s vision of a more accessible and decentralized digital future for everyone.”
KuCoin Has Funded TON, Others, in 2023
KuCoin Ventures aims to strategically channel these funds into various pivotal initiatives within the TON ecosystem. These include the Future3 Campus and TON Bootcamp, both incubation programs that foster innovation, research, and development endeavors to improve TON awareness.
Alicia Kao, Managing Director of KuCoin, underscored the potential of the TON blockchain in revolutionizing the industry. Furthermore, she reiterated the company’s commitment to success. According to her:
“We are thrilled to partner with the TON Foundation to support the growth and development of the TON ecosystem,” she said. “This strategic alliance aligns with our mission of promoting further development of the crypto and blockchain industry through tighter cooperation.”
KuCoin has participated in other funding efforts this year. In April, the exchange joined several participants in a $6 million strategic funding round for Credora, a lending platform that supports real-time credit analytics. The round had S&P Global and Coinbase Ventures as the main investors. Among other things, Credora ensures that borrowers maintain their creditworthiness by using computation techniques to analyze real-time data. This way, lenders can consistently confirm the credibility of borrowers.
A month before, KuCoin led a $10 million funding initiative for CNHC, an offshore Chinese yuan stablecoin issuer.
Fostering Collaborative Growth in Blockchain
The alliance between KuCoin Ventures and TON Foundation echoes a broader trend within the blockchain sphere. This trend sees cryptocurrency exchanges increasingly engaging in strategic partnerships involving substantial financial investments. Notably, these efforts are to amplify innovation and drive the expansion of decentralized ecosystems.
For instance, in a bid to enhance scalability and interoperability, Binance Smart Chain partnered with Polygon to integrate the platform’s Layer 2 scaling solutions. This effectively facilitates a seamless and efficient user experience within the Binance ecosystem.
Also, OKEx, a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, joined forces with Polygon to enhance the adoption and accessibility of decentralized applications (dApps) on the OKEx platform. The partnership also aims to leverage Polygon’s Layer 2 scaling solutions to enable faster and more cost-effective transactions for OKEx users.