The network’s transaction volume has now exceeded 1.04 billion.
Telegram-linked blockchain The Open Network (TON) has surpassed 1 billion total transactions in the wake of a high-profile memecoin airdrop, which also caused two major network outages.
According to data from TON Scan, the network’s transaction volume has now exceeded 1.04 billion, with half of these transactions occurring in the past three months alone.
The swift increase in transaction volume is a sign of the TON platform’s increasing user engagement, which is bolstered by its integration with Telegram’s almost 1 billion users worldwide.
TON Introduces Gasless Transactions
The W5 smart wallet standard’s introduction and other recent developments are largely responsible for TON’s sustained growth.
In partnership with Tonkeeper, the smart wallet standard was introduced with the goal of enabling gasless transactions on the TON blockchain.
The Open Network Foundation also introduced the Web3 startup accelerator Triangle in July in collaboration with 1inch and Sign.
Subsequently, the TON Foundation introduced a Bitcoin bridge to solidify the platform’s vision of being a “blockchain of blockchains.”
Furthermore, TON’s expansion and advancement have been further stimulated by Pantera Capital’s earlier this year investment in The Open Network.
Notwithstanding these advancements, the network encountered difficulties on August 27 and 29, when the DOGS memecoin airdrop caused two outages.
💥 Breaking :-
— Engineer PD (@engineerpdcrypt) August 28, 2024
❌❌❌
🔁 $DOGS crashed the $TON Network 🦴
✅TON blockchain has stopped working from the last 4 hours.
✅Millions are waiting to claim their $DOGS !
Be careful 🔥🔥🔥#DOGS #TON pic.twitter.com/F0PiMY2FK1
A whopping 20 million transactions were processed by TON during that time, with DOGS handling more than 30% of all activity.
Ian Wittkopp, head of TON Ventures, said the surge caused transaction fees to hit a six-month high and probably helped the network record its highest daily active user count.
Overwhelmed by the spike in activity, some validators were unable to process transactions or reach a consensus.
The network could process an average of 100 transactions per block in less than a second during peak times, according to cryptocurrency analyst Maartun. In certain blocks, DOGS transactions accounted for about 35% of all transactions.
Telegram Held $400M in Crypto by End of 2023
As previously mentioned, Telegram’s financial statement for 2023 shows that at the end of the year, the company had $400 million in digital assets.
By the middle of 2024, Telegram’s premium user base, which stood at approximately four million at the end of 2023, had increased to over five million.
Despite making $342.5 million in revenue, the messaging platform reported an operating loss of $108 million for the year.
Remarkably, the sale of digital collectibles and operations involving digital assets accounted for nearly 40% of this revenue.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been granted bail by French authorities, subject to stringent requirements such as paying 5 million euros, appearing before police twice a week, and staying inside French territory.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated that the judge found sufficient grounds to formally investigate Durov on all charges for which he was initially detained.
These accusations include alleged collusion in the operation of an online marketplace that supports illegal activities, the dissemination of content that encourages child sex abuse, drug trafficking, fraud, disobedience to law enforcement, money laundering, and the provision of cryptographic services to lawbreakers.