About

Telegram Open Network is an ambitious project looking to solve many of the perceived problems of existing cryptonetworks while leveraging the user base of a global messaging application.

History

Telegram is a cloud-based messaging and voice over IP service founded in 2013 with around 200 million mobile and desktop users. The project is a not-for-profit entity that is self-funded through its founders. The physical infrastructure is distributed to synchronize encrypted data across multiple independent servers spread across the world to maintain a focus on user privacy.

In early 2018, Telegram raised $1.7 billion in two private initial coin offerings (ICOs) to develop the Telegram Open Network (TON) proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain. TON is designed to be a competitor to Ethereum ($ETH), featuring smart contract capabilities and a sharding-based scaling solution. The network also supports a native utility token, called grams, that serves as the to be the principal cryptocurrency for the in-app economy on Telegram as well as the commission paid to TON validators for processing state changes.

The existing Telegram ecosystem will offer a variety of use cases to spend and earn grams. Third-party bots already accept credit card payments, and verified users will be able to purchase and exchange other cryptocurrencies through the application. These bots can also act as storefronts to accept payments for the physical delivery of goods or services. Currently, large groups are monetized through advertisements or promotion of other groups, but Telegram will launch an ad exchange where prices can be negotiated transparently and executed using grams with the statistics available to all parties. Users can also support publishers and content creators by making donations or paying for exclusive access.