TON Price Surges 120% as Telegram Takes Over Network Governance

Toncoin (TON) surged from roughly $1.32 on May 1, 2025 to an intraday high of $2.90 by May 7, 2025, pushing its market capitalization to approximately $7.8 billion.

The catalyst was Pavel Durov's announcement that Telegram would replace the TON Foundation as the network's primary driving force and become its largest validator within two to three weeks. Additionally, the domain ton.org was updated to state that it is “controlled by MTONGA.” Traders interpreted this as confirmation that TON had effectively become Telegram’s blockchain.

This means TON is now directed by the same company whose 1 billion users would determine its value. The price surge followed Durov’s announcement that Telegram would take over TON’s governance.

Exclusivity Agreements Formalized in January 2025

In January 2025, Telegram and TON formalized exclusivity agreements that extended far beyond branding. These included:

• TON became the sole blockchain infrastructure for Telegram Mini Apps.
• TON Connect became the required wallet-connection standard for blockchain-enabled mini apps.
• Toncoin became the only cryptocurrency accepted for Telegram Stars, Premium, Ads, Gateway, and certain developer and channel-owner payouts.

These terms gave TON a structural claim on every financial transaction running through Telegram’s platform. The governance layer added in early May built upon this commercial foundation.

Product Stack Accelerates TON’s Payments Thesis

The practical impact of the January agreements became evident as Telegram developed the product stack to leverage them. Key milestones included:

• TON Pay launched in February 2026.
• Institutional stablecoin access via SCRYPT in April 2026.
• Embedded wallet infrastructure introduced through Dynamic and Fireblocks in late March 2026.
• Sub-second finality went live on mainnet in April 2026, reducing confirmation times from roughly ten seconds to about one second, with blocks arriving every 400 milliseconds.

These developments created an in-app payments architecture fast enough to feel seamless within a chat window. The strategy aligns with the broader thesis that consumer crypto adoption thrives when embedded in surfaces where users already spend time.

Traders Bet on Telegram’s Payment Network Vision

Durov’s announcement provided traders with a specific trigger, but the underlying trade was a bet that Telegram could convert its massive user base into a payment network, with TON serving as the settlement layer.

Recent metrics highlight TON’s rapid growth, though challenges remain:

• Decentralized exchange volume reached $152.9 million for the seven days ended May 7, 2025, up 1,054% week-over-week.
• Perpetuals volume totaled $12.4 million over the same period, a 3,200% increase.
• App fees hit $1.48 million in a single day.

However, TON still lags behind established networks. For comparison:

• Solana recorded $6.37 million in app fees on a comparable day and holds $15.4 billion in stablecoins.
• TRON, built on dollar-denominated stablecoin transfer volume, has $89.6 billion in assets.
• Sui shows $567.2 million in stablecoins, $120,600 in daily app fees, and a market cap exceeding $4 billion.

TON’s payment-rail footprint remains far behind the chains it would need to displace for the Telegram thesis to achieve scale.