Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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Pantera Capital has invested in The Open Network (TON) blockchain.
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The VC firm looks to leverage Telegram large userbase with this investment.
Pantera Capital Invests in TON
Pantera Capital, a crypto venture capital firm with over $5 billion in assets under management has invested in The Open Network (TON). The VC firm said it invested in the project thanks to Telegram’s massive reach within the social networking ecosystem.
Pantera Capital stated that,
"We believe TON has the capacity to introduce crypto to the masses because it is used extensively within the Telegram network.”
As a Layer-1 blockchain, TON was initially designed by Telegram. However, it has since been handled by an open-source community and continues to record massive growth within the Web3 ecosystem.
This latest development comes a few weeks after Telegram announced that it intends to share ad revenue with channel owners and pay rewards using the Toncoin (TON) token. The plan is designed to promote in-platform ads on the social messaging network.
The adoption of TON within the Telegram ecosystem is set to spark massive adoption for the cryptocurrency, thanks to Telegram’s 900 million active monthly users. Furthermore, Telegram channels record over 1 trillion views in channels every month.
Citing this growth, Pantera Capital said,
"We believe the TON network is still in its early stages, and we are excited to witness the adoption of its ecosystem and new features by the Telegram user base."
Pantera Capital’s investment also comes shortly after Telegram enabled Tether (USDT) stablecoin payments via the TON blockchain. With this feature, Telegram users can now pay USDT to each other via the TON blockchain. Pantera Capital added that,
"The TON network's scalability allows for a fixed fee of ~$0.10 for transactions between two users — that is 66% cheaper than other crypto payment platforms. Additionally, built-in on-ramps and off-ramps, including bank transfers and exchanges, are being made available to further facilitate access and use."
TON is the ninth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and is trading at $5.28, up by more than 11% in the last 24 hours.
