Telegram’s TON exclusivity seen as essential by Steve Yun

Steve Yun, founder of the $100 million fund TVM Ventures, has defended Telegram's decision to exclusively support The Open Network (TON) for its Web3 ecosystem, calling it a necessary move for security and scalability.

In a recent interview, Yun stated that this exclusivity is not a limitation but rather essential for accommodating the needs of Telegram's vast user base, which numbers around 950 million.

Telegram's partnership with the TON Foundation, established in January, has made TON the sole supported network for Mini Apps.  

This decision has sparked mixed reactions within the community, with some expressing concerns about potential centralisation and its implications for liquidity and stability.

Yun emphasised that TON's architecture, which includes sharding capabilities, is specifically designed to handle high transaction volumes.

He warned that blockchains lacking such scalability would struggle to meet the demands of a mass audience, potentially compromising security.

Despite concerns regarding centralisation, Yun reassured users that Telegram bots will still support multiple blockchains outside of the Mini App framework.

He described this approach as a "freemium model," allowing developers flexibility while maintaining TON's advantages for Mini Apps.

Yun remains optimistic about the future of TON, viewing its exclusive partnership with Telegram as a positive sign for growth.

He believes that as the Telegram ecosystem matures and offers more services, it will attract more developers to build on TON.

However, this optimism comes amid challenges for Toncoin (CRYPTO:TON), which has seen its market cap drop by 64% since reaching an all-time high in April 2024.

To bolster growth within the TON ecosystem, Yun recently launched TVM Ventures to promote decentralised finance applications.

He plans to allocate approximately $25 million from this fund over the next year to support innovation and development in the space.

Yun concluded by stating that focusing on building scalable decentralised products will ultimately drive vision and capital back into the ecosystem.