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Toncoin Surges After Validator Shift and Fee Cuts
TL;DR
- Telegram will replace the TON Foundation and become the network’s largest validator.
- Toncoin jumped up to 37% after Pavel Durov’s May 4 announcement.
- Transaction fees fell sixfold, with further reductions expected.
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Telegram will replace the TON Foundation as the driving force behind The Open Network and become its largest validator, a move announced by Telegram founder Pavel Durov on May 4, 2026, that triggered a sharp rally in Toncoin and marked a structural shift in the network’s governance and operations.
Durov outlined the transition as part of a broader push toward performance and cost efficiency. “Fees in TON have dropped 6× — to nearly zero. Next step — Telegram replaces the TON Foundation as the driving force behind TON and becomes its largest validator. The focus shifts to tech superiority,” he said.
Toncoin climbed to $1.888 on May 5 after gaining 37%, rising from a five-day pre-announcement range of $1.30 to $1.35 and reaching a session high of $1.895. Another snapshot placed the token near $1.85 as its market capitalization moved above $5 billion for the first time since November 2025, returning it to the top 20 cryptocurrencies by coin market cap.
Telegram Expands Direct Control Over Network Infrastructure
Telegram is expected to stake approximately 2.2 million TON as it becomes the network’s largest validator, while Tonviewer data showed the company holds an additional 28.2 million TON that could further increase its influence if deployed.
The network currently operates with 370 validators across 28 countries and has 844 million TON staked. TON includes a validator cap that prevents the largest validator from holding more than three times the stake of the smallest, though that limit applies to assigned workload rather than the number of nodes operated.
Transaction costs have been reduced to approximately 0.00039 TON per transfer, or about $0.0005, making small payments and in-app transactions more practical. Durov said most transactions are expected to become feeless under future upgrades.
Recent upgrades have also improved performance. Catchain 2.0, activated on April 9, reduced block production time to about 400 milliseconds and cut confirmation times from 10 seconds to 1 second. A March upgrade introduced sharding technology capable of handling more than 100,000 transactions per second.
The announcement was branded around “Make TON Great Again,” and the ton.org website displayed the MTONGA symbol, which coincided with sharp gains in related ecosystem tokens. Notcoin rose between 23% and 26%, Dogs gained more than 90%, and MTONGA surged 980%.
Ecosystem Growth Tied to Telegram Platform
Telegram’s expanded role builds on its existing integration with TON across its platform. The messaging app has roughly 950 million to nearly 1 billion users, while Mini Apps exceed 50 million monthly active users. Every ad purchase on Telegram settles in Toncoin, and channel owners receive 50% of ad revenue in TON.
Additional services have rolled out in recent months. TON Pay launched in February, perpetual futures trading became available in April within Telegram’s integrated wallet, and enterprise-grade wallet infrastructure was introduced through Fireblocks and Dynamic.
The TON network processed 1.5 billion transactions in the first quarter of 2026, and total value locked reached $1.2 billion by April. Cocoon, a decentralized confidential compute network, also launched in 2026, allowing GPU owners to earn TON by contributing compute power for private AI inference.
Telegram’s move revives its original blockchain strategy from 2018, when it raised $1.7 billion before a 2020 SEC settlement forced it to step back. The TON Foundation continued operating the network independently after that exit, but the latest announcement removes that separation and places Telegram at the center of both the platform and its underlying blockchain.
FAQ
What did Telegram announce about TON?
Telegram will replace the TON Foundation and become the network’s largest validator.
How much did Toncoin rise?
Toncoin rose 37% and reached $1.895 at its peak.
What happened to transaction fees?
Fees dropped sixfold to about 0.00039 TON per transaction.
Why is Telegram’s role significant?
It combines platform distribution and validator control under one company.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
