TON may become the first everyday blockchain by 2027

Opinion by: Tracy Jin, main operating serviceman of MEXC

While Ethereum remains the halfway infrastructure for DeFi and astute declaration innovation, it inactive hasn’t solved its astir important promise: wide adoption. After astir a decennary of development, Ethereum-based apps are inactive excessively complex, fragmented and costly for the mean user. 

The Open Network (TON) is betting connected a wholly antithetic future, and that’s already unfolding wrong Telegram.

With implicit 900 cardinal users globally, Telegram is the largest progressive societal furniture successful crypto, and TON is the lone blockchain natively embedded into it. This isn’t conscionable astir gathering decentralized applications; it’s astir making Web3 vanish into the UX successful the champion imaginable way.

From conception to taste layer

Conceived successful 2018 to integrate blockchain exertion into Telegram’s messaging platform, TON took clip to found a foothold arsenic its infrastructure and ecosystem were built out. By 2024, the ecosystem had experienced a parabolic adoption curve, aided by Tether’s determination successful May to motorboat USDt (USDT) connected the chain.

This year, TON has solidified its presumption arsenic a captious cog successful the omnichain landscape. A large wallet upgrade successful March aided it, adding trading and TON staking for implicit 100 cardinal Telegram Wallet users. In the past 2 years, TON has besides introduced invaluable infrastructure successful TON DNS, TON Storage and TON Proxy, supporting decentralized domains, retention and privateness solutions.

Today, The Open Network has comfortably fulfilled its committedness of leveraging Telegram’s immense idiosyncratic basal to onboard millions to Web3 successful a mode that feels much akin to Web2. More than 150 cardinal accounts person been created connected TON, whose web records an mean of 2 cardinal regular transactions. The fig of progressive monthly wallets besides stands astatine astir the 2-million mark. These are coagulated benchmarks, but they don’t marque TON the astir fashionable blockchain ecosystem. Not yet.

What TON does differently

TON is not selling an ecosystem. It’s giving users tools they already cognize however to use, with crypto moving nether the hood. Telegram Wallet, present disposable to millions of users globally, turns tokens from speculative instruments into usable units wrong chats, channels, games and P2P experiences.

What bash we cognize astir the aboriginal of crypto onboarding and mundane usage? It’s going to get effortless, and astir of the existent friction points, from state fees to backstage cardinal storage, volition beryllium abstracted away. It doesn’t necessitate a crystal shot to glean this. The past of the net tells you that Web3 volition travel Web2’s arc: amended UX, little complexity and heavy integration and aggregation of products and services into a azygous interface.

What other bash we cognize astir the adjacent question of retail-focused blockchain adoption? It volition beryllium driven by chains that abstract complexity — nary convoluted onboarding — and fast, inexpensive and profoundly integrated into existing Web2 platforms. These are attributes that first-generation astute declaration chains specified arsenic Ethereum, which is embroiled successful a multi-year scaling challenge, can’t supply. And neither tin alleged next-gen chains that are highly scalable but deficiency a Web2 organisation channel. Only TON, with its autochthonal integration into Telegram’s billion-strong messenger, ticks each these boxes.

Related: How crypto experts find 100x coins earlier anyone else

This brings america backmost to Mini Apps, the cardinal to mainstreaming TON. If there’s 1 vantage the blockchain has implicit its rivals, it’s autochthonal integration with Telegram’s 900-million idiosyncratic base. Mini Apps, specified arsenic Notcoin, Hamster Kombat and Catizen, are onboarding millions of users, galore of whom don’t adjacent recognize they’ve started utilizing blockchain infrastructure. These are real-world accent tests of what scalable, low-friction Web3 tin look like. 

While Ethereum has talked astir onboarding the pursuing cardinal users since 2018, TON is softly doing it — 1 meme, 1 microtransaction, 1 pat astatine a time. By contrast, Ethereum apps similar Uniswap oregon Aave necessitate browser extensions, effect phrases and an knowing of state mechanics — barriers inactive insurmountable for the mean mainstream user. Even Solana and BNB Chain, contempt faster networks and larger full worth locked, trust connected outer wallets and Web3 onboarding flows. TON bypasses these frictions entirely.

A caller behavioral norm

TON’s emergence coincides with a broader displacement successful the crypto industry. Global spot successful accepted platforms is eroding, and attraction is shifting to ecosystems that connection self-custody, interoperability and fluid UX. While L2s and rollups vie to standard Ethereum, TON is gathering wherever astir furniture 1s can’t scope — wrong a native, mundane interface. 

The broader crypto assemblage is besides experiencing fatigue from over-engineered UX, speculative volatility and fractured onboarding experiences. TON, by contrast, rides the question of the Mini App roar — a format popularized successful Asia via platforms similar WeChat — present becoming a planetary behavioral norm. TON’s quality to embed crypto into mundane habits gives it a unsocial vantage successful this mobile-first reality.

Moreover, TON has already proven resilient. During Pavel Durov’s arrest successful 2024, the level continued to run independently — a motion of its increasing decentralization. Telegram has besides begun preparing for worst-case scenarios, ensuring the infrastructure isn’t reliant connected a azygous entity. 

TON mightiness specify the adjacent epoch of blockchain

Where does this momentum lead? Based connected existent adoption rates, TON could scope implicit 2.6 cardinal regular progressive users successful 2026 and surpass 10 cardinal by 2027. Just 2 years ago, that fig was nether 40,000. By contrast, Ethereum has remained unchangeable astatine astir 420,000 regular progressive accounts, portion Solana’s caller detonation to implicit 5 cardinal has been fueled by high-volume airdrops and memecoin activity.

TON is improbable to beryllium the largest concatenation successful earthy numbers adjacent year. But its maturation is built differently. While Solana’s spike is driven by speculation and incentives, TON’s is based connected embedded habits, specified arsenic tipping, gaming and payments, repeated millions of times wrong a acquainted interface. 

No different app is arsenic crypto-friendly oregon crypto-native arsenic Telegram. Not lone is it the world’s favourite blockchain-enabled app, but it’s the world’s fourth-most fashionable messenger app. And the blockchain powering its Mini Apps is TON. No different blockchain has entree to this benignant of organisation network, which is why, erstwhile it comes to plotting the aboriginal of blockchain adoption, each roads pb to TON.

If its initiated expansion into the US marketplace gains traction, TON could adhd millions of users presently embedded successful platforms similar WhatsApp and Facebook. The American marketplace remains 1 of the astir competitory and highly regulated crypto environments, but TON’s frictionless UX, mobile-first plan and heavy Telegram integration connection it a unsocial advantage. Positioning itself arsenic a level for creators, micro-transactions and autochthonal monetization, TON whitethorn unlock a marketplace historically dominated by Ethereum and overlooked by galore different chains.

By 2027, Ethereum whitethorn inactive pb DeFi. Solana whitethorn predominate onchain liquidity and trading. But if TON continues its existent path, it volition ain thing other entirely: the mundane furniture of the internet. A blockchain radical usage without reasoning astir it — due to the fact that it’s already there, wrong the apps that they ne'er close.

Opinion by: Tracy Jin, main operating serviceman of MEXC.

This nonfiction is for wide accusation purposes and is not intended to beryllium and should not beryllium taken arsenic ineligible oregon concern advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed present are the author’s unsocial and bash not needfully bespeak oregon correspond the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.