🔝 TOP Weekly News

Ecosystem updates

- Nikola Plecas has joined the TON Foundation as Vice President of Payments. A former top executive at Visa, Nikola brings deep expertise in crypto, compliance, and partnerships to help scale payment solutions for Telegram’s 1B+ users.

- Telegram Premium subnoscriptions doubled in a year, reaching 15 million. This growth boosts opportunities for TON projects to reach and monetize a paying, engaged audience.

TOP portfolio companies

⁃ USDe is now available on all major TON non-custodial wallets. This integration allows Ethena synthetic dollar USDe savings in TON Space and Tonkeeper. It’s a key product for Telegram’s 1 billion users, allowing dollar savings technology while promoting global financial inclusion.

- STON.fi AMM protocol: USDe is available to users via its STON.fi dApp. As part of TON's growing DeFi ecosystem, users can easily swap, stake, and provide liquidity for USDe directly through STON.fi — without the need for bridges or third-party tools.

⁃ Tonkeeper wallet: Signer is a new way to approve TON transactions without exposing private keys. Users can sign via QR code, app pairing, or keep Signer fully offline for maximum security— no new keys or accounts needed.

Worth exploring

- How Telegram is powering the creator economy: Manny Stotz, President at TON Foundation, explains why Telegram is becoming the go-to platform for the creator economy on TON. From enabling financial access in emerging markets to offering seamless on-chain monetization tools. Watch or read the interview. 

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TON Leads in NFT Activity

TON ranks #1 in daily active NFT traders, according to a Dune dashboard analyzing on-chain NFT activity. Over the past two months, TON has averaged 5,000 daily traders and it also ranks #3 in on-chain NFT trading volume.

Updates from Getgems

Getgems — the largest NFT marketplace on TON by number of transactions, has recently rolled out several user-centric updates to drive NFT activity:

— 0% trading fees for Telegram Gifts and other Telegram-linked collections — making secure, and fully on-chain option for trading NFTs tied to Telegram identity.

— Third-level domains, allowing users to create and monetize collections via TON DNS.

— On-chain announcements and comments, enabling engagement directly with specific NFTs and collections — all on the blockchain.

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🔝 TOP Weekly News

Ecosystem updates

— The integration of Tether Gold (XAUt) into TON blockchain — now live onchain and in Wallet in Telegram. It brings physically backed, inflation-resistant gold to hundreds of millions of Telegram users.

— Telegram NFT Gifts experienced explosive growth, driving over $190M market cap. This surge in activity made TON #1 blockchain by daily NFT trading volume.

TOP portfolio companies

— Tonkeeper Academy is a new resource for TON developers, launched by the team behind the Tonkeeper non-custodial wallet. This educational series covers advanced topics like tracking TON transactions, adding interactive buttons to NFTs, using webhooks, and more. Full articles are available on the TonConsole documentation or on Medium.

— Tribute, a service for monetization in Telegram, now supports bulk product uploads - a quick solution for managing large product catalogs.

— PlayDeck, a game distribution platform on Telegram, launches dev community to build closer ties with developers and expand features based on real feedback. A new community space is now live for studios to share ideas, showcase projects, and exchange tips. Explore here @playdeckdevhub

Worth exploring

— Manny Stotz, President at TON Foundation, talks about how TON aims to create a new digital financial ecosystem by leveraging Telegram’s massive distribution and targeting real-world use cases. Listen to podcast.

—TON Foundation CEO Max Crown talks about TON’s master plan to onboard 1 billion users. Watch the interview.

— Pavel Altukhov, CEO of TAC, shares how TAC bridges EVM dApps directly into Telegram, simplifying Web3 for millions of users. Read the interview.

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AMA Recap: Bridging Ethena on TON

Last Friday, CryptoRank hosted an AMA session with STON.Fi, Tonkeeper, Ethena Labs, and TON Space by Wallet. Here's a recap of the key highlights:

— Strategic Ethena Launch: Ethena's launch of USDe on TON is a major milestone, leveraging Telegram's vast global distribution to bring a synthetic dollar to a mainstream audience.
— Enhanced User Experience: A core focus is simplifying DeFi for mass adoption. Projects are developing intuitive and streamlined interfaces to make access seamless for both new and experienced users.
— Simple Interfaces, Better Security: Intuitive and simplified user interfaces are paramount for user safety in Web3. By reducing complexity and potential points of confusion, they minimize the risk of user errors that could lead to financial losses, thereby providing a more secure environment.
— Cross-chain Utility for Stable Synthetic Assets: USDe is designed for seamless operability across multiple chains. Its availability on TON significantly broadens access to this synthetic asset, allowing users to bridge USDe from other networks like Ethereum to TON, thereby enhancing liquidity and interconnectedness.

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🔝 TOP Weekly News

Ecosystem updates

— The TON Foundation has released the TON Ecosystem May 2025 report, highlighting the integration of XAUt0 into the TON blockchain, the launch of Ethena’s USDe, and the Release Candidate status of the TOLK smart contract language, featuring expanded IDE support and a smoother coding experience.

Top portfolio companies

— Tonkeeper, STON.Fi, and TON Space by Wallet together with Ethena Labs participated in CryptoRank’s AMA, focused on bridging Ethena to the TON blockchain.

— STON.Fi announced a developer workshop scheduled for June 19 to discuss implementing liquidity provision via the STON.Fi SDK.

Worth exploring

— Future of Gaming on TON — Inal Kardan, Gaming Director at the TON Foundation, discusses major GameFi ecosystem updates and answers gaming community questions on the TON Builders Call. Watch the recording

— Simplifying Onboarding with Telegram Mini Apps — Martin Masser, Head of Growth at TON Foundation, explains how leveraging Telegram Mini Apps streamlines user onboarding and how digital assets like stickers and NFTs drive engagement. Watch the interview

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TAC Raises $11.5M to Bring DeFi to Telegram’s Billion-User Ecosystem

TOP Labs portfolio company TAC has raised a total of $11.5 million across its seed and strategic rounds. The newly closed $5 million strategic round led by Hack VC reinforces institutional belief in TAC’s mission to bring Ethereum applications to Telegram users and lays the groundwork for the next wave of TON-native consumer apps.

TAC is nearing mainnet launch and in the current DevMainnet phase, blue-chip DeFi protocols such as Curve Finance, Morpho Labs, and Euler Finance are live, with 20+ additional leading applications in preparation for Mainnet integration.

🔝 Read more on Cointelegraph

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TOP Newsletter April-May 2025

Spring was an important season for TOP and TON & Telegram ecosystem, marked by coordinated efforts to scale blockchain infrastructure and global presence. TOP newsletter outlines the key updates shaping the Web3 mass adoption.

Highlights:

– Insights from TOP leadership, with an exclusive look at our future vision
– Telegram global reach and premium subscribers growth
– TON Foundation leadership team expansion to drive Payments Infrastructure
– Ethena's launch of synthetic dollar on TON
– TOP’s plans to launch in the U.S.
– Technical updates for developers
– News from Getgems, STON.fi, Tonkeeper, and more.

Download the full report:
🔝 TOP Newsletter April - May 2025

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🔝 TOP Weekly News

Ecosystem updates

— TON Foundation has launched a feedback survey for developers to help identify infrastructure needs on TON.

Top portfolio companies

— TAC, a purpose-built blockchain for EVM dApps, has closed a $5 million strategic round led by Hack VC to accelerate the launch of Ethereum-compatible DeFi applications on Telegram via the TON ecosystem. In total, TAC has raised $11.5 million across seed and strategic rounds, with over 20 projects preparing to launch on Mainnet.

— Wallet in Telegram users can now book hotels around the world. Everything works through the TON Travel mini app — where you can choose from over 3 million hotels and pay in Toncoin, USDT on TON, or by bank card.

— STON.fi, an AMM protocol on TON, has released a new Developer Guide for building liquidity provision apps, featuring step-by-step instructions and tools like their SDK and API. The guide is designed to help developers of all experience levels build or expand DeFi projects on TON quickly and efficiently.

Worth exploring

– Crypto Adoption at Scale — Tobias Jack Lewis, BD & Partnerships Manager at TOP, shares how TON ecosystem is helping bring Web3 to Telegram’s global user base. Listen to the episode

— Building Payment Solutions on TON — Victor Mendes, Payments Lead at TON Foundation, shares the latest updates on the Payments ecosystem and answers community questions during TON Builders Call. Watch the recording

– Panel discussion hosted by WAGMI HUB at Telegram Treasure Trove: Gifts, Stickers, Airdrops & the InfoFi Future. Watch the recording

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TOP to Launch Telegram Mini Game Accelerator for APAC Region 

The Open Platform is launching the "Telegram Mini Game Accelerator Camp" in the APAC region, providing traffic and funding support to high-quality mini-game projects on TON blockchain to drive innovation and expand Telegram’s Mini Apps Ecosystem.

The program will select up to 10 promising teams from the APAC region for a six-month acceleration track. Selected projects will receive:

– Advertising channels and placement budgets

– Access to TOP’s developer toolkit and networking support

– Mentorship from ecosystem experts and marketing assistance

– Investment commitments for talent recruitment and community building.

Apply to the program here.

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Unicorn status unlocked 🦄

We’re proud to become the first unicorn in Web3 ecosystem in Telegram, reaching a $1B valuation in the latest equity funding round.

This milestone was made possible thanks to trust of Ribbit Capital and Pantera Capital.

“This investment supports our long-term strategy to scale the adoption of blockchain-based products by leveraging the power of Telegram as a distribution channel. By combining the TON blockchain with Telegram’s global reach, we’re building both the infrastructure and the consumer-facing apps needed to onboard a billion users to crypto.”
- Andrew Rogozov, CEO and Founder of The Open Platform.

A massive thank you to our partners, investors, TON community — and of course, the incredible TOP team.

Let’s keep building.

🔝 Read more on Fortune

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Tonkeeper Latest Updates Overview

During the first half of the year, Tonkeeper, the self-custody TON wallet, introduced a set of updates that make wallets more secure, easier to manage together, and compatible with more networks. Tonkeeper Pro was part of this innovations, gaining new features that build on the core wallet experience.

– Onchain 2FA – For the first on TON wallets, transfers can now be approved with two signatures: one from Tonkeeper Pro and one directly in Telegram.

– Multisig Wallet Creation – Wallets created in Tonkeeper Pro can now be configured to require multiple private keys for transaction approval, supporting secure management by multiple participants.

– USDT TRC20 Support – Users can now send USDT on the TRON network without holding TRX, with transaction fees covered directly within the app by Tonkeeper Battery.

– AI tools in Tonkeeper Browser – a new section in the Browser highlights AI-powered tools, which can be accessed directly and paid for using TON

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🔝 TOP Weekly News

Ecosystem Updates

– The Open Platform has become the first unicorn in Telegram’s Web3 ecosystem, reaching a $1B valuation in its latest equity funding round.

– TON Core has completed a series of TON kernel optimizations. As a result, operations on TON Blockchain are now finalized 10 times faster under low to moderate loads — in just 3–5 seconds.

– Telegram has introduced the My TON feature. Now users can submit content to their favorite channels as suggested posts and offer Toncoin in exchange for posting.

Top portfolio companies

– Tonkeeper has launched a new in-app browser for Tonkeeper Pro (iOS), allowing users to access dApps and on-chain tools directly within the wallet seamlessly.

– STON.fi has upgraded its Ethena staking interface, enabling users to optimize strategies across different pools based on their goals.

– Getgems has extended its 0% trading fees for Telegram Gifts NFT collections till July 23.

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TON Space rebrands to TON Wallet

With growing adoption and expanding functionality, the self-custodial wallet in Telegram is getting a new name — and a major product upgrade.

TON Wallet — a multi-functional, self-custodial wallet on TON, built into Telegram, and fully under user control.

Updates in TON Wallet:

— New trading interface with a dedicated trading section. Tokens are now grouped by category, with up-to-date information and clear charts showing price changes.

— Integration of Omniston by STON.fi. The protocol automatically scans available platforms to find the most favorable price for a swap.

— Real-time rates and charts, allowing users to get detailed information about selected tokens: trading volume, liquidity, market cap, with an interactive price chart to easily track changes over time.

Investments in crypto are risky. This communication is not intended for persons in the United Kingdom.

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TAC Mainnet launch brings Ethereum DeFi to Telegram's 1B+ users

TOP Labs portfolio project TAC, a purpose-built blockchain for EVM dApps to access TON and the Telegram ecosystem, has launched today. From today, Ethereum's assets and applications may be accessible to Telegram's 1 billion+ userbase.

Leading DeFi protocols, including Morpho, Curve, Bancor, Euler, ZeroLend are now live on TAC’s public mainnet. These DeFi dApps will make up an operational DeFi ecosystem within Telegram’s blockchain-based environment.

“TAC’s mainnet launch is a major step toward bringing DeFi to the mainstream. By connecting Ethereum dApps with the Telegram ecosystem, TAC unlocks real utility for over a billion users. The team combines deep technical expertise with a clear growth strategy and is uniquely positioned to bring the best of Ethereum into TON. At TOP, we backed TAC from the start because we believed in their vision and ability to drive real adoption beyond the crypto-native crowd.” - Andrew Klebanov, Managing Partner at TOP Labs

🔝 Read more on The Block

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🔝 TOP Weekly News

Ecosystem Updates

– TON Core has released TOLK v1.0 — a programming language for TON created to make coding secure, gas-efficient smart contracts simpler and more intuitive.

Top Portfolio Companies

– Wallet in Telegram has rebranded — the custodial wallet becomes Crypto Wallet, while TON Space, self-custodial wallet, transitions to TON Wallet featuring an upgraded interface with clear token categories, live price charts, and detailed token information.

– Omniston liquidity aggregator by STON.fi is now integrated into TON Wallet, giving users access to optimal swap rates when swapping tokens.

– Getgems has launched the beta version of its first public API. This enables developers to programmatically mint NFT collections, upload media directly to TON blockchain and Getgems, and integrate NFT minting into bots, tools, or other products.

Worth exploring

– Unlocking a Billion Users for EVM Developers — Pavel Altukhov, CEO of TAC, explains how developers can deploy existing Ethereum dApps to Telegram's ecosystem without code changes through TAC. Read the interview

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Wallet in Telegram Launches in the US, Bringing Self-Custodial TON Wallet to Millions of Users

Wallet in Telegram, a portfolio project of The Open Platform, is launching TON Wallet in the US. TON Wallet is now the first self-custodial crypto wallet natively integrated into Telegram in the US, allowing American users to send, store, and manage digital assets within the app without requiring additional downloads.

In 2024 alone, over 100 million users worldwide activated their TON Wallet, highlighting the rapid global adoption of cryptocurrency. With over 87M Telegram users in the US, this rollout brings seamless crypto access to a massive audience – and expands entry into TON’s broader ecosystem of payments, Mini Apps, and digital marketplaces.

“We’ve embedded crypto natively into Telegram – not as an add-on, but as part of how people already communicate. With Wallet in Telegram, sending digital assets feels as simple as sending a message – no friction, no extra steps. At the same time, users stay in full control of their keys and funds. This isn’t just a wallet, it’s a self-custodial gateway to Web3, powered by TON Blockchain, right inside the app people use every day.” – Andrew Rogozov, CEO of The Open Platform and Wallet in Telegram.

Investments in crypto are risky.

🔝 Read more on CNBC

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STON.fi brings seamless self-custodial DeFi to US Telegram users

TOP portfolio project STON.fi, the leading swap dApp and protocol suite on TON Blockchain, now powers swaps through the decentralized liquidity aggregator Omniston within self-custodial TON Wallet, available to users in the US.

With $6B+ in total volume and 5.5M users, STON.fi is leading the way toward broader DeFi adoption. Omniston simplifies both liquidity access and distribution for developers, applications, and liquidity providers, ensuring end users receive the best available rates — all through a unified integration.

"This integration represents a significant step toward mainstream cryptocurrency adoption. By bringing swapping services directly into one of the most widely adopted TON wallets, we’re removing the traditional friction points that have long kept everyday users from accessing decentralized finance. Users can now use crypto as easily as sending a message." – Slavik Baranov, CEO of STON.fi Dev.

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🔝 TOP Weekly News

Ecosystem updates

— Wallet in Telegram launches in the US with a self-custodial TON Wallet, giving American users smooth access to TON ecosystem.

— STON.fi expands to the US via TON Wallet, bringing seamless self-custodial DeFi to millions of Telegram users through its Omniston-powered swaps.

— TON Core rolled out the 'Accelerator' update to enhance the TON blockchain’s stability during high and peak loads.

TOP portfolio companies

— Getgems launched the offchain Telegram Gifts market, expanding access to both on-chain and offchain collectibles for a smoother experience, with 0% fees.

🚀 Worth exploring

— Slavik Baranov, CEO of STON.fi, shares how STON.fi is making decentralized finance accessible and intuitive for everyday users. Read the interview.

— Martin Masser, Head of Growth at TON, explores how Telegram's billion user base and TON’s expanding ecosystem are driving crypto adoption and shaping the future of decentralized finance. Read the interview.

— TON of Alpha: Venture Building on TON — Kirill Malev, Venture Advisor at The Open Platform, takes part in X Spaces this Thursday, July 31st at 2PM UTC to share how TOP helps founders turn bold ideas into real products across the TON ecosystem. Set a reminder.

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STON.fi Dev raises $9.5M Series A to scale DeFi on TON

TOP portfolio project STON.fi, the leading DEX and foundational DeFi protocol suite on TON blockchain, has successfully secured a $9.5 million Series A funding round. The round was led by global investment funds — Ribbit Capital and CoinFund.

This funding marks a major milestone in STON.fi’s mission to build cross-chain solutions and robust liquidity infrastructure for users and developers, leveraging deep integrations with Telegram-native wallets and the broader TON ecosystem. The capital will be used to develop concentrated liquidity pools, launch native limit orders, introduce a community governance layer, and implement other core protocol enhancements.

STON.fi is also actively developing cross-chain capabilities via its liquidity aggregation protocol Omniston, which will enable seamless, bridge-free swaps across blockchains — a critical step toward a unified DeFi experience.

Since launching in late 2022, STON.fi has facilitated over $6B in volume, handling trading activity for 80% of TON traders, and currently ranks #1 on TON by unique active wallets.

🔝 Read more on Decrypt

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The Open Platform is hiring

We’re excited to share that our new Careers Portal is live!

Join us in driving the Telegram economy — building consumer-facing apps and Web3 infrastructure for Telegram’s 1B+ users.

Whether you're an engineer, marketer, analyst, or product builder — if you're excited about shaping the future of Web3 and building on TON Blockchain, we want to meet you.

🔝 Explore open roles

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