July 10, 2024
By Anjali Kochhar
On July 4th, the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain experienced an unprecedented increase in activity, with stablecoin transfer volume reaching $299 million in a single day. This is the biggest daily total since Tether introduced its US dollar-pegged stablecoin on the network in April, according to blockchain analytics firm Artemis.
Despite this achievement, TON’s daily transfer volume on Thursday pales in comparison to Ethereum, which recorded a staggering $7.7 billion in daily USDT volume. The network also lagged behind Arbitrum and Solana, with USDT transfer volumes of $564.72 million and $505.9 million respectively during the same period.
The surge in TON’s stablecoin transfer volume was driven largely by decentralized exchanges (DEXs), particularly DeDust and STON.fi, which emerged as the top two applications by stablecoin transfer volume on the TON blockchain in the past 24 hours. Following closely behind were major centralized exchanges like Binance, MEX Global, Bitfinex, Bybit, and Bitget.
The supply of USDT on TON has seen substantial growth, reaching $560 million. This influx has significantly boosted the network’s total locked value, soaring from $144.85 million on April 19, the day Tether’s USDT was first launched on the TON blockchain, to $655.26 million at present, as reported by DefiLlama.
In a coinciding development, Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced in his channel, boasting nearly 2.8 million subscribers, that Hamster Kombat, a popular click-to-play minigame on Telegram with 49.7 million subscribers, would be hosting a token generation event. This announcement coincided with TON’s peak in stablecoin transfer volume, underscoring the growing adoption and interest in Telegram’s ecosystem of mini apps.
Durov expressed optimism about the future of Telegram-based games, stating, “A new wave of mini apps on Telegram is coming, and Hamster Kombat is now leading the pack. Its amazing growth shows the viral potential of the Telegram mini app platform.”
Despite the record-setting performance in stablecoin transfers, the native cryptocurrency of the Telegram-associated blockchain network, TON, experienced a minor decline of 4.2% in the past week, trading at $7.25 as per CoinGecko. Nonetheless, TON has seen a remarkable 430% increase in its token price over the past year, reflecting strong market sentiment and investor interest in the platform.
The most recent events on the TON blockchain emphasize its growing importance in the broader cryptocurrency environment, notably in the domain of decentralized finance (DeFi) and the growing popularity of Telegram’s micro apps. As TON expands its footprint, industry observers are closely monitoring its future trajectory in the face of changing market dynamics and regulatory climates.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over three years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
