-
Toncoin Fund seeks to bring DeFi, NFTs and Metaverse projects onto the TON blockchain.
-
Telegram abandons TON (The Open Network) blockchain project in 2020 after SEC sued over $1.7 billion ICO
Kucoin Ventures and Huobi Incubator have joined other top crypto-focused investments in support of a $250 million Ecosystem Fund for Toncoin.
Others contributing to the fund are 3Commas Capital, MEXC Pioneer Fund, Orbs, Kilo Fund and TON Miners.
Toncoin is a blockchain and cryptocurrency project that originated from the failed TON blockchain, a platform that was developed by Telegram.
But the messaging service stopped its participation in TON in 2020. This follows a lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The agency maintained Telegram’s $1.7 billion initial coin offering (ICO) that involved the sale of unregistered securities.
TON (The Open Network) lost the case, with Telegram opting to refund US investors. However, the TON community continues to build on the blockchain, which now runs independently under the TON Foundation.
TON Ecosystem Fund targets Web3 development
In an announcement released Monday, the foundation plans to use the funds to fuel developer activity through incubation and grants. The fund will also provide investment and will be used to launch hackathons to encourage further development.
The TON Foundation wants to use the Ecosystem Fund to bring Web3 to the blockchain. According to the description of the TON protocol, projects will range from decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), metaverses, and data and infrastructure services. Website,
Integration with Telegram is another major development the Foundation is eyeing. If that happens, it would make cryptocurrency more easily accessible to the 600 million users that currently make up the encrypted messaging app’s monthly user base.