Telegram hit a milestone this week after reaching 900 million users, prompting its founder – Pavel Durov – to consider an IPO (Initial Public Offering).
This news might be the reason why Toncoin (TON) exploded on Monday and early Tuesday, breaking above $4.26.
According to data from CoinGecko, TON jumped roughly 38% on early Tuesday, hitting a high of $4.45 before retracing slightly. The last time the coin was trading above $4 was in November 2021, at the peak of the crypto bull market.
In the last thirty days, TON has seen significant price action after years of being practically under the crypto space’s radar. Developments and announcements from Telegram always play a significant role in TON’s price.
As CryptoPotato reported, TON exploded 25% two weeks ago after the messaging app announced it would share 50% of ad revenue with channel owners, paid via the TON blockchain.
TON is the native cryptocurrency of The Open Network, a decentralized blockchain developed by Telegram. It was originally called Telegram Open Network, but the project and its founders parted ways in 2020 following regulatory issues by the SEC.
The community backing TON decided to keep going with the project and turned it into a layer-1 with a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus model.
Telegram has integrated the network since then, offering users a TON-backed self-custody crypto wallet within the platform for closer integration with users.
Moreover, Durov gave his first interview since 2017 with The Financial Times, saying, “Generally speaking, we see value in [an IPO] as a means to democratize access to Telegram’s value” before adding that he expects Telegram to go public this or the next year.