The following is a guest post and opinion from Slavik Baranov, CEO at STON.fi Dev.
From Gaming Phenomenon to Financial Ambition
In 2024, the TON blockchain became one of the most talked-about ecosystems in crypto — not because of a groundbreaking DeFi protocol, but thanks to the meteoric rise of viral tap-to-earn games on Telegram. Titles like Hamster Kombat and Notcoin drew millions virtually overnight, pushing daily active wallets to nearly 2 million by September.
The surge proved TON can onboard users at a pace few blockchains can match. But it also exposed the fragility of hype-driven adoption: many players came for quick rewards and left when incentives ended. Speculative capital — fluid and opportunistic by nature — followed the same path.
Games showed TON’s reach. But they were never meant to be the foundation of a financial revolution.
The Lasting Impact of the Hype Cycle
The post-game cooldown wasn’t a collapse; it was a reset. In January 2024, before the gaming boom, TON averaged 26,000 daily active wallets. After the dust settled, activity stabilized at 100,000–200,000 — a multiple of its pre-hype base.
Even more importantly, developer and user inflows seeded growth across the ecosystem. The number of DeFi protocols on TON rose from 35 to 67 in 2024 — a 91% increase. This expansion reflects a gradual shift in focus from short-lived promotions to enduring financial infrastructure.
Building TON’s DeFi Landscape
TON’s DeFi sector now spans token swaps, staking, and lending. In early 2024, EVAA launched as the first lending protocol. By late summer, AMM protocol STON.fi had reached nearly $400 million in liquidity. Today, the leaders by total value locked (TVL) are the liquid staking protocol Tonstakers and the swap protocol STON.fi, reflecting user preference for core, high-liquidity services.
Fueled by gaming-related excitement, total value locked (TVL) across the network peaked at $1.1 billion in July 2024. But as incentive programs ended, TVL declined to around $600 million by early 2025 and now stands near $400 million.
These movements suggest that part of TON’s liquidity was influenced by short-term market dynamics. Funds tended to flow in during periods of attractive yields and gradually taper off as those opportunities diminished.
By the end of 2024, TON had nearly 38 million addresses, yet new wallet creation fell sharply — from 724,000 daily in autumn to just 33,000 in early 2025. Meanwhile, staking emerged as a safe haven: around 790 million TON are currently staked, concentrating liquidity in lower-risk, base-layer protocols.
Why the Revolution Hasn’t Happened Yet
Compared with Ethereum or Solana, TON’s liquidity depth and range of products are still developing. Part of this difference stems from its underlying design. TON’s architecture was created with massive scalability in mind, leading to technically elegant but more complex infrastructure for developers.
Smart contracts on TON use a low-level language, and many core components require building from the ground up, which may have contributed to a more gradual pace of DeFi development in its early years.
The trade-off? Low-level development can produce more efficient, resilient solutions over time. TON’s core team is actively reducing friction for builders, paving the way for faster growth.
Another factor is ecosystem dependence on Telegram. On one hand, this integration gives TON direct access to over 1 billion users and tangible utility — since 2024, Telegram channel owners have been able to receive ad revenue payouts in TON. On the other hand, it creates a single point of exposure: any disruption in Telegram instantly impacts TON.
For now, many average users still see Telegram mini-apps as casual games rather than financial tools. Without broadening beyond entertainment use cases, TON’s appeal to institutional capital remains constrained.
Unlocking TON’s DeFi Potential
The path forward is clear: expand beyond hype cycles and deliver mass-market financial services seamlessly integrated into the Telegram experience.
This could mean:
- Frictionless payments — sending crypto in a Telegram chat as easily as a text message.
- Everyday utility — paying for goods, services, or restaurant bills in TON-based tokens.
- Accessible lending — offering microloans and credit solutions in regions underserved by banks.
If executed well, these use cases could transform TON from a viral gaming phenomenon into a primary interface for global crypto adoption.
Signals of Institutional Confidence
Institutional investment is already validating TON’s potential. In March 2024, major players including Sequoia Capital, Draper Associates, Kingsway, CoinFund, Ribbit, and Skybridge invested in Toncoin.
In January 2025, Zodia Custody (a subsidiary of Standard Chartered) announced support for TON’s Jetton token standard, enabling banks and large investors to securely hold and manage TON assets. And in July 2025, The Open Platform — a developer of Telegram-based protocols and apps built on TON — secured $28.5 million at a $1 billion valuation from leading funds Ribbit Capital and Pantera Capital.
Conclusion: From Potential to Reality
The explosive growth of 2024 proved that pairing Telegram’s reach with blockchain’s capabilities can move markets. But true transformation will come only when TON evolves from a hype-fueled onramp into a robust financial ecosystem.
The fundamentals are in place: a growing developer base, improving infrastructure, and unprecedented distribution through Telegram. If TON’s DeFi sector can simplify the user experience and deliver essential, in-demand services where users already are, it won’t just participate in the future of digital finance — it could help define it.
