The Telegram-designed TON ecosystem wins $10 million in backing from marketplace creator DWF Labs

Crypto market maker and investment firm Web3 DWF Labs has announced that it will become a “prominent supporter of the TON ecosystem.” The company also invested $10 million (roughly Rs. 80 crore) in the Layer-1 blockchain network. TON — or The Open Network — is a third-generation proof-of-stake blockchain project originally conceived by the creators of instant messaging app Telegram. However, the TON community is now developing the blockchain and guiding its direction. As part of the new partnership, DWF Labs will support TON with investments, token development, market creation and stock exchange listings.

A press release The details of the agreement state that the company plans to invest in a total of 50 TON projects in the coming year. The publication notes TONcoin’s current trading volume of $20 million (roughly Rs. 160 crores) and confidently claims that DWF Labs will double the figure within three months. To help maintain volumes, the market maker plans to develop a robust OTC market for traders making larger transactions.

Managing Partner of DWF Labs, Andrew Grachev, commented on the partnership, saying, “We are thrilled to TON Foundations’ vision to deliver a decentralized internet, and so we’re excited to partner with them to directly support projects and drive transaction growth.”

Open Network is a proof-of-stake blockchain designed in 2018 by the brothers who also created the Telegram instant messaging app. The project ran into legal trouble for its initial coin offering, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered Telegram to return funds to investors.

After a court ruling against Telegram in 2020, the TON community took over development, quickly creating the TON Community Foundation. As an open source project that was already in the testnet phase, much of the network code was already available.

The partnership with DWF Labs is the latest milestone for the TON Foundation. Earlier, they achieved cooperation with Huobi Group and KuCoin Ventures. In addition, the TON ecosystem is seeing accelerating growth, with TON Sites and TON proxy being the latest additions. These two features and tools are critical to unlocking the future of a decentralized internet.