TON Foundation Secures $400M in Investments from Leading VCs, Strengthening Blockchain Expansion
Staff Writer • 2025-03-20
Backers Include Sequoia, Ribbit, Paradigm, Draper Associates, and More ZUG, Switzerland – The Open Network Foundation (TON Foundation) has announced a major funding milestone, securing over $400 million in token-based investments from some of the most influential venture capital firms in the blockchain space. The high-profile investment round includes backing from Sequoia Capital, Ribbit, Paradigm, Benchmark, Kingsway, Vy Capital, Draper Associates, and Libertus Capital, along with CoinFund, Hypersphere, SkyBridge, and Karatage. The influx of capital reflects growing institutional confidence in TON’s potential to drive mainstream blockchain adoption, particularly through its exclusive partnership with Telegram. TON Blockchain’s Unmatched Scale and Speed Draw Investor Confidence As a high-speed, scalable, and resilient decentralized network, TON has positioned itself as a dominant force in blockchain infrastructure. Investors have taken note of its robust capabilities, particularly as TON becomes the exclusive blockchain powering Telegram’s Mini Apps Ecosystem. This integration extends TON’s reach to Telegram’s global user base of over 1 billion monthly active users, making it one of the most widely accessible blockchain networks in the world. By embedding financial tools directly within Telegram, TON is redefining how users interact with crypto payments, decentralized finance (DeFi), and digital applications. "The TON team is the best in the world at the intersection of consumer product thinking and crypto infrastructure," said Shaun Maguire, Partner at Sequoia Capital. "When you combine this with the global distribution of Telegram, we’re very excited to see where they go." A Year of Unprecedented Growth for TON TON’s adoption has skyrocketed over the past year, with active accounts increasing tenfold from 4 million to 41 million. The number of Toncoin holders has surpassed 121 million, even exceeding the total number of wallets holding Bitcoin. Additionally, TON-based applications have become some of the most-used crypto apps globally, showcasing the network’s mass adoption potential. As a result, TON has become the fastest-growing blockchain ecosystem, fueled by Telegram’s reach and seamless user integration. "Telegram’s user base, which is expected to grow to over 1.5 billion through 2030, creates an unprecedented opportunity in the history of humanity to provide ubiquitous financial flows that have been limited until now to information flows," said Peter Fenton, Partner at Benchmark. "TON provides the backbone for human-scale democratization of financial activity." The Roadmap to Mass Adoption Looking ahead, TON Foundation aims to onboard 30% of Telegram’s active users to the blockchain by 2028, leveraging four core strategies: Engaging Digital Collectibles: Expanding stickers, gifts, and on-chain digital assets natively within Telegram. Web3 Gaming Expansion: Launching multiplayer mini-games with blockchain-backed assets and rewards. DeFi Innovations: Introducing user-friendly savings and yield-generation solutions for crypto holders. Real-World Payment Utility: Enabling stablecoin transactions, remittances, and financial services within Telegram’s messaging ecosystem. "Ribbit partners with exceptional teams tackling and solving the world’s biggest problems," said Micky Malka, Founder of Ribbit. "TON and Telegram exemplify this, working together to expand financial access globally by coupling the best technology with a seamless consumer experience." The Blockchain With Unrivaled Distribution Few blockchains can match TON’s built-in distribution advantage through its Telegram integration. With over a billion users and a frictionless onboarding process, TON is set to redefine how people interact with blockchain-powered applications in everyday life. "I’ve been a long-time believer in the potential of blockchain to disrupt traditional industries and systems," said Tim Draper, Founder of Draper Associates. "TON’s technology is highly impressive, and its integration with Telegram provides it with a distribution that no other blockchain can match." A Defining Moment for TON and the Future of Blockchain With $400 million in fresh capital and a rapidly expanding user base, TON is well-positioned to lead the next phase of mainstream blockchain adoption. As Telegram continues to scale, TON’s decentralized financial infrastructure will be at the core of a new wave of blockchain-powered consumer applications. "The TON ecosystem has huge potential energy and a significant distribution advantage, especially in gaming, stablecoin payments, and remittances," said Alex Felix, Co-Founder and CIO at CoinFund. "As exemplified through our investment in StonFi, CoinFund continues to be bullish on the growth of the TON ecosystem as a whole and the opportunities ahead for the Foundation." With Telegram and TON now more interconnected than ever, crypto adoption at scale is no longer a distant vision—it’s happening right now.
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