The Open Network (TON) is a project that has captured the attention of traders for years now. This layer 1 decentralized public blockchain was designed to support millions of users. As such, the network was one of the first to integrate dynamic sharding and work chains as part of this strategy.
Interestingly, The Open Network was created by the team behind the popular messaging app, Telegram. The project even had the name Gram during its launch. The prospects for the network were massive but blowback from regulators towards social media firms issuing cryptocurrencies stifled the project temporarily. Today, The Open Network operates as a stand-alone project after cutting ties with Telegram.
What Problems Does The Open Network Attempt to Fix?
The TON ecosystem was designed to solve many issues that crypto users still contend with on the daily basis. The platform was built from day one to support a massive amount of users. The developers saw scalability concerns as one of the biggest drawbacks to adoption. Consequently, the protocol features ultra-fast transactions with finality times of just 6 seconds.
Introducing Cryptos to People
Additionally, TON was meant to be integrated into Telegram which would have made adoption easy for all users. This strategy would have placed an easy-to-access crypto wallet as a core part of the Telegram messaging app. Millions would have had their first taste of the decentralized economy in action via this roll-out.
High Fees
Another primary concern that The Open Network seeks to eliminate is high fees due to network congestion. The system leverages a faster consensus mechanism to reduce operating costs and fees for users. You can send TON tokens internationally for a fraction of the cost of PoW (Proof-of-Work) networks.
Energy Efficient
Another major concern that TON develops focused on from day one was sustainability. PoW networks continue to gobble up enormous amounts of electricity as part of their validation process. The Open Network reduces energy consumption by eliminating the use of miners. Instead, network participants stake their tokens to secure returns and validate the network.
PoS networks are far more energy efficient and democratic than PoW networks. They continue to gain in popularity as they eliminate the need to invest in expensive mining rigs to secure passive returns. The TON environment leverages a purpose-built PoS consensus mechanism to validate transactions and the state of the blockchain in real-time.
Benefits of The Open Network
The Open Network brings a lot of benefits to the market that are worth mentioning. For one, the entire platform is user-friendly. The TON ecosystem integrates easy-to-use apps as part of this strategy. Anyone can effortlessly buy, send, save, and stake their coins.
Staking
Staking is a popular feature in the DeFi community. Staking is preferred to trading by most new users because it provides consistent low-risk passive returns. These returns can then be staked to create a wealth-generation loop. Best of all, anyone can stake their tokens and contribute to the network
Developer Focused
The TON developer’s support is crucial to the communities success. The network features a developer-centric approach which improves functionality and programmability. The many unique technical aspects make The Open Network ideal for multiple use-case scenarios.
Sharded
Part of the secret of the performance of the network is its shared technical structure. Shards are subnetworks that can handle computations and store data of the mainnet. The TON ecosystem leverages cross-shard interactions to enable simultaneous computations. This strategy drives performance to new heights.
How Does The Open Network Work?
The Open Network is a layer 1 PoS blockchain. The network enables the user to participate in validation by staking their TON tokens. The platform features a 5-second block time which helps improve transaction throughput.
TON Virtual Machine (TVM)
At the core of the network is the TON Virtual Machine. This full-stack deterministic VM can handle concurrent computations across multiple shards. The network leverages a protocol called the Actor Model to enable this feature to operate. These options also work in tandem with the network utility token and wallets.
TON Wallets
The TON Wallet was designed to provide the user with both security and convenience. The platform features an intuitive interface with access to send and receive buttons on the main page. You can also easily monitor your past transactions and balance. The wallet supports direct P2P payments via its non-custodial design.
Token – TON
TON, referred to as Toncoin, is the primary utility token for The Open Network. The token plays multiple roles within the TON environment. It’s used to make payments between users as a cryptocurrency. It’s also a reward and staking token. Developers must hold TON to cover the cost of executing smart contracts and building Dapps and subnetworks as well.
The Open Network – History
The Open Network originated in 2018 as Gram. The platform was meant to be supported by Telegram, the massive messaging app as they share the same founders, the Durov brothers. Notably, Gram had massive support from the community during its launch. It even broke ICO records when it secured $1.7 billion during a crowdfunding campaign.
However, the blowback from the success was too much. Regulators began questioning the project, and even began to scrutinize Telegram, which up until that point has been out of the crosshairs. The heat was too much for the group and Telegram eventually was forced to abandon the project. In 2022, The Open Network became community-powered after the developers handed it over to users.
Final Words
When you review the history of The Open Network, it’s easy to see that this blockchain was the brainchild of tech gurus. The system was created to become an integral part of a massive community from day one. As such, it’s packed with features that most platforms lack. These options and the growing community of users make TON a token to keep an eye on moving forward.
