👁 How to win in a game without knowing its rules?

⚫️ TON Foundation launched a large-scale meme contest, but instead of hype, FUD is spreading in the community. The reason is a completely closed formula for determining winners. The top of the leaderboard is firmly occupied by old memecoins, and new projects see no point in entering a fight where the rules are hidden. We are publishing an #opinion on this:

⚫️ On the one hand, such opacity can be a tool for creating equal conditions. As long as no one knows the exact criteria, large players cannot purposefully inflate specific metrics. Participants are forced to act intuitively, developing their projects comprehensively, rather than optimizing them for a known formula.

⚫️ On the other hand, this raises the question from the post title. New memecoins find themselves in a catch-up position, not understanding what actions can bring them closer to victory.

⚫️ The result on the scoreboard: the leaderboard is stagnating, and traders and creators are losing interest. The initiative, designed to revive the ecosystem, risks having the opposite effect — cooling enthusiasm.

⚫️ Thus, the TON Foundation faced a classic choice: fairness through uncertainty or transparency that opens the door to manipulation. Nevertheless, the team has already stated that it will revise the formula and try to balance it in the second week of the contest.

💡 Was there a better option? Our editorial team believes so.

As an option — to distribute rewards retrospectively. Meme activity began not a week ago, but back in August. People, based on expectations and future actions from the TON Foundation, independently launched a small, but still a meme wave. During this time, in our humble opinion, there were tokens and teams that managed to gather truly friendly communities around them and show organic growth, instead of manipulations on the chart.

⚫️ The TON Foundation could have bought back similar jettons without loud announcements — not only delighting holders and showing that it monitors the meme sector of the ecosystem, but also inspiring other communities to honest work.

@thedailyton

👁 TON has been added to Coinbase's listing roadmap.

@thedailyton

👁 Why do we need USDC if we already have USDT?

⚫️ Yesterday, voting began among TON validators regarding the addition of a "major regulated stablecoin" to the network. This likely refers to USDC. The question arises: USDT from Tether has long been established in the blockchain, so what will another stablecoin offer? Of course, competition is beneficial in itself — but the answer may also lie in TON's strategic positioning.

⚫️ USDT is the "people's" stablecoin. Its strength lies in liquidity and widespread recognition in the crypto world. But it has historically been associated with regulatory challenges and a less transparent structure compared to the fully licensed and audited USDC from Circle.

⚫️ TON aims for mass onboarding, where partnerships with large, legitimate players are important. Banks, payment systems, and large corporations may be more willing to work with USDC, and will think twice before engaging with USDT. This is a matter of reputation and compliance.

⚫️ Different stablecoins solve different problems. USDT is for internal transfers in the crypto-economy and trading. USDC is a bridge for fiat money, an entry point for institutional capital, and the foundation for future RWA projects.

⚫️ But here's the catch: while TON is preparing to launch USDC, Circle itself plans to launch its own blockchain with a native token $ARC. This calls into question the long-term loyalty of the partner — in the future, Circle may redirect flows to its own ecosystem.

@thedailytonrus

👁 French authorities have fully lifted Pavel Durov's travel ban.

@thedailyton

🍌 TON is for a billion users, but not simultaneously

⚫️ As is customary on Fridays, we publish a subjective #opinion on what's happening in TON. This time, even within our editorial team, a discussion arose, and here we present one side's view — so later we want to publish a rebuttal to ourselves with a different perspective. In the meantime, feel free to share your opinions in the comments.

⚫️ Our ecosystem creates perfect conditions for mass onboarding: integration with Telegram, free transfers, intuitive interface. A regular user might suddenly receive a gift or a check in a chat — and just like that, they're "hooked" and have to figure things out. This is the best bridge between Web2 and Web3 for a newcomer.

⚫️ But what happens when a user stops being a newcomer? A month or two, a year or two passes, and the question arises: "What's next?" They want to diversify their portfolio, try DeFi, participate in complex farming strategies. And here, TON faces a problem: 2025 was supposed to be the year of DeFi, but a developed financial ecosystem is still absent, and the number of abandoned protocols exceeds the number of newly launched ones.

⚫️ TVL, which has shrunk 8-fold from its peak values, doesn't allow developers to deploy complex products. A striking example: ex-Crouton together with the previous TON DeFi Lead are now building a project on Ethereum. The project is in its early stages but has already attracted almost $4M TVL — more than most active projects in TON.

⚫️ Experienced users quickly hit a ceiling: there are no perpetual contracts with high leverage, no advanced derivatives, and a meager choice for yield strategies. As a result, they are simply forced to look for new opportunities, because treading water is definitely not an option.

⚫️ TON Foundation focuses on quantity, not the depth of user experience. Onboarding a billion people is ambitious, but without a developed financial infrastructure, a significant portion of the audience risks remaining "one-time" users.

🖊 Thus, TON risks becoming a perpetual incubator for newcomers, but not their home. Until the problem with liquidity and complex financial instruments is solved, users will come for easy money — and leave for complex opportunities.

@thedailytonrus

👁 The main problem of TON adoption

⚫️ We are publishing a second #opinion this week, which disputes the first. Yesterday we published a post stating that that TON lacks advanced DeFi tools, which is why users are leaving for other blockchains. And today we publish a text with a different view. Who is right - you tell us in the comments.

⚫️ The fact that TON lacks some advanced DeFi tools is true. But if you focus on it, it will only hinder solving the problem, not help. Why?

⚫️ The real problem of TON is not the absence of "advanced tools". Well, yes, cool degens may indeed lack some. But the idea of TON is not to be a blockchain for cool degens. Its idea is to be "a blockchain for everyone, even your aunt." An aunt most likely will not be a "cool degen". And a billion users will not come for advanced tools. 95% of them don't need these tools.

⚫️ And the real problem of TON is the opposite. Some tools already exist, DeFi like Ethena. But there is no other: a clear explanation of "why does my aunt need all this?" She doesn't need complex things like Ethena. What does she need? Well, off-chain gifts might be useful to her. But where in TON's on-chain is there anything that would sound understandable, attractive, and solve some of her problems? The ability to choose which Indian will fly into space, are you serious? She never had the problem "I'm not allowed to choose an Indian astronaut."

⚫️ And if the lack of advanced tools were solved, hypothetically, this could attract a layer of "advanced degens." But this is still a narrow layer. This is not mass adoption.

⚫️ But if the problem "we offer nothing to auntie" were solved, so that a billion users would come to TON... This billion would bring liquidity with them. Degens would flock to this liquidity. And then any advanced service would be made for these degens. Because then, with liquidity and degens, these services would become profitable, unlike now.

⚫️ So, if you want to solve the problem of TON, you should not make cool advanced tools. On the contrary, you should make the simplest possible tools for aunts. And if that works, the advanced stuff will follow.

🖊 As usual, the opinion is subjective. So which is more correct, yesterday's or today's - it's up to you to decide. Maybe you don't agree with either and see everything differently? Tell us exactly how.

@thedailyton

🍌 How scammers steal gifts

⚫️ In our #antiscam section, we have long been talking about fraudulent schemes. To understand them, we often pretended to be naive users and responded to scammers' messages. Recently, blogger Kharchevnikov went even further to understand the topic: he infiltrated the ranks of scammers. What useful information for our channel can be gleaned from his video?

⚫️The main scheme he described is simple: scammers write to gift owners, offer to sell them, and send a link to a fake marketplace. We have already written about such fake resources. But the video reports an interesting detail: the marketplace described there uses verification from Roskomnadzor, which is obtained with the help of "drop" persons willing to give their personal info.

⚫️ Another mentioned scheme is more sophisticated. Scammers say they want to check if the gifts were received with "refunded" stars. They ask to install Nicegram (an alternative Telegram client) and send them a specific file "for verification." However, this file allows them to log into Telegram as the user and seize their gifts.

⚫️ Other interesting details in the video include the scale of what is happening. A huge number of different people are involved in the fraudulent project: ordinary "workers" (who write to gift owners), "traffickers" (who look for new "workers"), "mentors," and the leadership that remains in the shadows. So, if you receive a lot of messages about your gifts, it's not surprising.

💡 The conclusions are quite standard, but no less important. Do not send any "system files" to anyone. Do not use unfamiliar marketplaces, even with a verification badge (in our #gifts series, we listed the most popular ones, they are more reliable). Do not trust those who write in private messages offering to "buy gifts." And if you don't care about showing off your gifts, you can even hide valuable ones in your profile to avoid attracting scammers' attention in the first place.

@thedailyton

⌨️ The Weekly TON: highlights of the week

⚫️ The main news of the past weekend: for the first time, a new gift was sold on primary market through an auction system. The very first ones went for millions of stars (although this does not guarantee the first NFT numbers), while subsequent batches had prices around 200,000-300,000 stars.

⚫️ Another notable event is the ongoing Meme Republic. We wrote about the first week, but now the second has begun — it will be interesting to see how its results differ.

⚫️ Another event is still only expected — the appearance of another major stablecoin in TON, likely USDC. We analyzed what it can add to an ecosystem where USDT already exists.

⚫️ And another event was not as impactful as some feared: the start of unlocking funds from the TON Believers Fund did not cause an immediate collapse of the TON exchange rate. However, TON is quite capable of falling even without this...

⚫️ A week earlier, we already wrote about the economic models of TON and Hyperliquid, and now we have expanded on the topic and compared their marketing approaches.

⚫️ We looked at how scammers try to relieve you of your gifts.

🖊 And in the "opinion" section this time, everything turned out even more controversially than usual — we argued with ourselves. We published two different opinions on what TON lacks: advanced services or, conversely, mass ones?

@thedailyton

🌚 The Uranus memepad has launched on the x1000.finance terminal. During trading on its Bonding Curve, the token creator receives 70% of the fees. For more details, see the official announcement.

👁 Lessons from failure: why TON didn't become the second ICP

⚫️ In previous times, we compared TON with Hyperliquid — one of the top ecosystems of this cycle. Now let's look at the flip side — let's take a blockchain that didn't succeed. Internet Computer (ICP) is ideal for this comparison: once, it was called not just a "cloud provider killer," but a contender for the role of "Bitcoin killer" and the entire traditional internet. Today, it's a textbook example of how not to build an ecosystem.

⚫️ ICP launched in 2021 with maximum hype: a valuation of $4.7 billion, a promise to completely replace AWS, and solve Bitcoin's scalability problem. But the technology turned out to be too complex even to understand, let alone for mass adoption. TON did the exact opposite — it started with simple and clear use cases: payments in Telegram, checks, NFTs.

⚫️ ICP's economic model was flawed from the start: hyperinflation, unclear coin value, constant pressure from venture investors. The result — a 99% price drop from ATH. TON, despite all its problems, demonstrates a more stable economy with clear use cases for its native coin.

⚫️ ICP tried to be everything to everyone, but became nothing. Its dApps remained incomprehensible to ordinary users, and developers massively left the ecosystem. In turn, TON focuses on a specific niche — integration with the messenger. And therefore, it still retains the potential for millions of users against several thousand in ICP.

⚫️ Decentralization is another key difference. Despite loud statements, ICP remains an extremely centralized project. Even TON shows a healthier model: ~400 validators, open development, and a gradually growing number of independent projects.

⚫️ The conclusion is simple: slow but steady progress proved more effective than a "rocket start." ICP tried to reinvent the internet in one day and failed. TON is following an evolutionary path, albeit with mistakes. But it is precisely this that gives it a chance for long-term success.

@thedailyton

💡 “The aesthetics of an utility vehicle”: Oleg Andreev on Tonkeeper Pro

📡 We have already written about the Tonkeeper Pro wallet, which is more “advanced” than the regular Tonkeeper. And now we interviewed its creator Oleg Andreev: why did two wallets appear, and how do their approaches differ? Here are fragments of his answers, and we separately published the full version: so to speak, we got “Interview” and “Interview Pro.”

⚫️ On how Tonkeeper Pro came about:
“We realized that sometimes we needed ‘advanced’ features and a place to test new technologies. Innovations are not just ‘coming up with an idea’; they require iterative work: invent, try, evaluate, refine...… And in Tonkeeper Pro, we can add new features before releasing them to mass users. That’s why we first added W5 support, TRON support with gasless, and two-factor authentication to Tonkeeper Pro. 2FA is still only available there."

⚫️ On the difference between the two wallets:
“Tonkeeper is made for the mass user: how do we make it as comfortable as possible? And Tonkeeper Pro is designed around technological needs that must be met: its users need a variety of tools, so how do we implement all of them conveniently?

Roughly speaking, Tonkeeper is like a Mercedes, and Tonkeeper Pro is like an utility vehicle, a giant haul truck — in the best sense. Its dashboard has every button visible, nothing hidden behind ten clicks. But still with air conditioning and backlighting.”

⚫️ On the mobile and desktop versions of Tonkeeper Pro:
“In essence, mobile Tonkeeper Pro is really desktop Tonkeeper Pro, just in another format. Sure, you'll scroll more on the phone. But conceptually, the navigation should feel close to desktop. And we came up with the idea that since the screen is smaller, we would put the three columns of the application into the screen using ‘pedals’ on the sides, thanks to which the user is always one click away from them.”

⚫️ On the fact that Tonkeeper Pro is used by people with very different tasks:
“Traders need one thing, CFOs another, founders something else, developers too. Like in Adobe Photoshop, where each user needs only about 5% of the features, but the product satisfies the entire variety of people with their different 5% needs. And it is professional; it won’t hold your hand to explain what crypto is.”

⚫️ An example of the differences between Tonkeeper and Tonkeeper Pro:
“In the basic Tonkeeper, there is a bottom menu of four items. In Tonkeeper Pro, the current wallet is always visible, since you switch often and mustn’t get lost. And navigation instead of the bottom menu is done using ‘pedals.’ It turns out that Tonkeeper brings everything to the surface, while in Pro, functions are a bit hidden, but there are many more of them.”

💡 We remind you that the full version of the interview is available via the link, where there are many more details.

@thedaliyton

📈 New pools on DeDust

⚫️ DeDust.io exchange has introduced a new version of liquidity pools (CPMM v2). What are its differences, and how is it useful for token creators on the new Uranus memepad?

⚫️ As a reminder, liquidity pools generally work as follows: those who wish to contribute their funds, the exchange uses them for swaps, and in return shares a part of the fee.

⚫️ Previously on DeDust, deposited funds and accumulated profits from fees were "together," and it was often difficult for liquidity providers to understand "how much I earned." Now, they are clearly separated, allowing accumulated profit to be withdrawn separately, even if the initial liquidity is locked.

⚫️ A "Creator Fee" is also added, where the token creator can set their own commission, which is charged when trading that token. In TON, a similar scheme was already applied, but it used special token contracts, which created certain difficulties. Here, the technical implementation is different.

⚫️ Tokens created using the Uranus memepad will receive such a pool when migrating to DeDust. So this will help people creating new memecoins on Uranus to receive commissions from their DEX trades.

💡 In general, if you were considering launching a new token due to the ongoing Meme Republic, this is an additional factor in favor of the idea. Even if you don't win the contest itself, but token trading proves active, it can still be useful.

@thedailyton

👁 Today marks the 45ft birthday of Nikolai Durov — co-founder of TON blockchain.

@thedailyton

📈 Wash trading and how it's detected

⚫️ As the second week of Meme Republic draws to a close, passions are running high: teams are not only striving to "maximize results" but sometimes accuse each other of dishonest actions. One of the most frequent accusations is "wash trading." Let's discuss what it is and how it can be identified.

⚫️ For any token, it's important whether it's "being traded," so trading volumes are a significant indicator. But in the anonymous crypto world, it's not difficult to trade one's own token to create the illusion of activity: the number will increase, although real demand has not grown. This is "wash trading."

⚫️ As a result, many resort to manipulation, but in different ways. Somewhere, part of the volume is manipulated, while some tokens are not traded by real people at all. Somewhere, artificial activity is difficult to distinguish from organic, and somewhere it is obvious.

⚫️ How to "catch" at least the obvious manipulations yourself? Go to DEXscreener, open the token page, and look at the transaction block at the bottom. Sometimes it's immediately visible that transactions come in pairs: a purchase from one address and an immediate sale for an almost identical amount. Sometimes there are several other transactions between the purchase and sale.

⚫️ Next to the address, you can click on the filter icon and see all transactions of that wallet. If there are many "paired" purchases and sales, it looks very much like manipulation. Try yourself as a blockchain detective and investigate some token, write in the comments what you find.

⚫️ In addition, metrics can be manipulated in other ways. For example, injecting funds into a concentrated liquidity pool so that they are out of range, meaning they are not used and there is no risk of impermanent loss. This is a completely free method. You can also create a pool with a very low commission and create volumes very cheaply or even without commission and "spin" almost for free.

💡 How to deal with this? It's impossible to forbid people from "reselling their own token," and it's probably not necessary. Rather, one should exercise caution when trading and consider such practices. Also, contests like Meme Republic need to make efforts if they want to reward real activity, not manipulated activity.

@thedailyton

⌨️ The Weekly TON: Highlights of the week

⚫️ Two news items last week were interconnected. One was about the launch of the new memepad Uranus.

⚫️ The other was about the launch of new liquidity pools on DeDust.io. If a token from Uranus appears on DeDust, it gets exactly such a pool.

⚫️ Among various discussions around Meme Republic, accusations of wash trading arose. What exactly is that? We made an explanatory post.

⚫️ We interviewed Oleg Andreev, the creator of the Tonkeeper Pro wallet. The interview was extensive, so we published highlights here and the full version separately.

🪙 And finally, just for a general knowledge, we compared TON with another blockchain project, ICP. Currently, comparisons rarely favor TON, but this is one such case.

@thedailyton

⌨️ "Durov's code 2" book announced

⚫️ The sequel to the Russian-language book about Pavel Durov will be released in December. One of The Daily TON's authors has a copy of the first book with Pavel's autograph, so we couldn't pass up this news. Since more than 10 years have passed since the first book was released, and many people don't even know about it, we'll describe both.

⚫️ The original book was released in 2012 and was fully titled "Durov's Code. The True Story of VKontakte and Its Creator." To prepare it, author Nikolai Kononov interviewed both Durov himself and other participants in the described events. At that time, Pavel was already widely known, but Telegram had not yet been announced, so it only described his work on VKontakte.

⚫️ A lot has changed since then. Pavel created Telegram, left VK and Russia, and later, as part of Telegram, became involved in the Gram blockchain project. After the SEC banned Durov from developing Gram, the project was temporarily suspended. It later revived as TON, with a new team not from Telegram employees, but retaining integration with the messenger.

⚫️ Now, the events that have taken place since then are described in a new book by the same author. Its full title is "Durov's Code 2. Telegram, Global Power, and Dangerous Freedom of Speech."

👁 A fragment from the new book has already been published (in Russian) on forbes.ru. It describes how the Gram project faced pressure from regulators. So this fragment may be of interest to those curious about TON's backstory.

@thedailyton

💀 TON cemetery

⚫️ The SettleTON project is closing, and this news looks like part of a trend: it is just one of a number of TON projects that have failed to become profitable. Of course, many projects close in any blockchain, but in TON, this now looks like a systematic phenomenon, rather than isolated failures.

⚫️ We already wrote about closures in June, when they concerned projects like Aqua Protocol and ParraTON. And even then, we asked: "How much longer can TON exist without mass adoption before projects start closing down massively?"

⚫️ Since then, a mass collapse has not yet occurred, but new closures have happened regularly: from GemsWall to NEWTON Fund. Somewhere they happen quietly, and the fate of the project is difficult to understand from the outside, somewhere – with public announcements.

⚫️ And all the messages sound similar: "We are sorry to close the project, we tried to come up with something and steer it. But it remains unprofitable, there are no prospects, and we do not see the point in losing more money." In each individual case, one might think that the founders did not try hard enough. But together, they lead to the conclusion that "it is difficult to become profitable in a blockchain where there are few people and little liquidity."

⚫️Can anything uplifting be said when the "cemetery" is expanding? Perhaps this: for now, the closures do not affect the main TON projects. Mostly lesser-known ones are closing, without which the ecosystem can continue to function, and not those without which it would lose its core features (exchanging tokens, trading NFTs and so on).

💡 But this is an alarming signal that says: now changes are simply necessary. Otherwise, TON will not just "not achieve mass adoption," but will lose the achievements already made, and will be a "naked" blockchain without an ecosystem, as it was at the very beginning.

@thedailyton

👁 Is it time to ignore the price?

⚫️ While the TON community in late November is content with the October recap, Coinbase Ventures looks to the future, highlighting 4 key trends for 2026. Let's see if TON is ready for these challenges.

⚫️Perpification of Everything

TON's eternal pain. While the world moves towards synthetic markets and "perpetual futures for everything," there is only one Perp DEX in the ecosystem. Its volumes are incomparable to leaders in other networks, which calls into question TON's readiness for the next stage of DeFi.

⚫️Specialized exchanges and terminals

Here, TON has a chance: the number of DEXes is growing, and DeDust recently released the first native on-chain terminal. However, without professional tools for traders and advanced analytics, the ecosystem risks remaining at the "beginner" level.

⚫️ Next-gen DeFi

The main challenge for TON. The trend is shifting towards composite markets, while in TON we see the opposite: fragmented liquidity pools and a lack of complex credit products. It is enough to recall yesterday's post about closed projects — the picture becomes alarming.

⚫️ AI + Robotics

An unexpected opportunity. TON, with its integration into Telegram, could become a platform for monetizing AI agents. And here, Pavel Durov's announcement of Cocoon is very timely — possibly the first step towards creating decentralized computing networks.

💡 While the average person monitors the price of TON, the fundamental indicators of the ecosystem noticeably lag behind general trends. Is it necessary to address the above problems to realize the potential for mass onboarding? We are not sure, but we know one thing: the price can wait — technological development cannot.

@thedailyton

⭐️ The last day of the QuestHub contest

⚫️ In early November, we missed the news that BroBot relaunched as QuestHub and launched its first Starter Quest contest. But now we're informing you that there's only one day left in the contest, so you can still participate.

⚫️ The rules for participation are standard for such quests: "link a TON wallet," "subscribe to specific channels," "invite friends via a referral link." All of this allows you to accumulate points, and with different point totals, you can become a contender for various prizes.

⚫️ The prize fund includes three prizes of $50 each and 10 Telegram gifts; their list is available in the official announcement.

⚫️ The exact end time of the contest is November 28, 15:00 UTC.

🚀 All that remains is to provide a link to the Starter Quest itself.

@thedailyton

💡 How to save TON? Opinion 1: The Carrot

⚫️ Nowadays everyone writes about the crisis in TON. But it's easy to complain "TON Foundation is doing everything wrong," while saying "how to fix it" is harder and more important. How to save TON? Even within our editorial team, opinions diverged. Today, in the #opinion section, we present one of them.

⚫️ We have already written that the mass user doesn't understand "why should I get into this at all?" (They don't exactly need TON to blow their salary in an online casino). And if this is considered the main problem, then the main thing for saving TON is to give people an understandable "carrot": an incentive that draws them into the ecosystem.

⚫️ Tap-to-Earn games had the carrot of "expectation of free money." And it temporarily worked: after Notcoin, millions flocked. But such an approach inevitably breaks down, ultimately only disappointing everyone. A long-term carrot is needed.

⚫️ What kind exactly? There are many options, here's an example. We want to attract Telegram users, right? And what is clear and pleasant to them? When they have cool features in Telegram. Telegram Premium subscription already sells features like audio message transcription. And everyone understands "why they are needed."

⚫️ What if there was a program with a name like "Telegram Tonium," which for activity in TON would give other interesting features via a Telegram bot? And also give a nice badge in the profile. And would have a referral program.

⚫️ What could these "additional Telegram features" be? Just for example: currently, there is a growing demand for AI video generation; Grok Imagine appeared in Twitter for this, but Telegram does not have an official tool. What if active use of TON provided a certain number of free video generations per week? How many people could become active in TON for this, and then get accustomed to the blockchain itself?

⚫️ If you consider AI video "terrible slop," you can imagine other features that seem more useful to you. The main idea is this: mass users do not understand and don't care about things like "we have a new version of CLMM." But AI video "a cat working in a delivery service" is well understood. Do we need to attract mass users to TON? Then we need to approach them through things they understand and demand.

🖊 As usual, the opinion is subjective. So, if you know better than us how to save TON, write in the comments!

@thedailyton