Polygon’s technology is being leveraged by the TON’s new layer-2 (L2) network, as announced at the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) in Brussels, Belgium.
The newly launched initiative, called the TON Applications Chain (TAC), is a result of a partnership between TAC and Polygon Labs.
Polygon’s Chain Development Kit (CDK) and the AggLayer are being utilised to enable Ethereum developers to create new applications for Telegram users.
The 9 July announcement detailed how the TON L2 will use Polygon’s CDK and the AggLayer to integrate Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) – compatible decentralised applications (dApps) into TAC.
The enhancement will support dApps in decentralised finance (DeFi), gaming, and identity solutions, paving the way for innovative projects in these areas.
Currently, EVM applications are not available on the TON network, complicating the user experience.
However, with the recent integration of $USDT on TON and the growth of Tap-to-Earn applications like Notcoin, the ecosystem is expanding.
Building on previous success
TON has grown steadily since its launch in 2020 by tapping into Telegram’s user base.
Telegram now has 5.8 million monthly active on-chain wallets. A 5 July post by Messari noted that the number of daily active addresses on the TON network surpassed Ethereum in June.
Despite the success and increased trading activity in the TON ecosystem, there has been a rise in phishing attacks.
On 24 June, SlowMist founder Yu Xian warned that the openness of the Telegram ecosystem has led to phishing links being spread through message groups, airdrops, and other deceptive methods.
Users with anonymous numbers face higher phishing risks, as their accounts are not linked to SIM cards and can be easily lost to bad actors.
Nevertheless, the new project aims to continue this growth by promoting the development of decentralised applications.
The project will utilise Polygon’s Chain Development Kit (CDK), a customisable toolkit that uses Polygon’s zero-knowledge technology to develop layer-2 blockchains.
It will also employ Polygon’s interoperability layer, the AggLayer, to address blockchain fragmentation.
Pavel Altukhov, who is the TAC founder, mentioned that Polygon’s technologies were chosen because they align with the project’s goals:
“We chose to build on the Polygon ecosystem for its EVM compatibility, seamless availability of liquidity from EVM chains via AggLayer, comprehensive deployment support, and Polygon’s EVM expertise. The vibrant community surrounding Polygon was also a crucial factor in our decision.”
The integration of these technologies is expected to enhance scalability and efficiency for TON users, reduce transaction costs, and improve throughput.
This aligns with TON’s objective of providing robust and scalable blockchain solutions.
Toncoin’s Ecosystem Lead, Alena Shmalko, has been vocal about the challenges of expanding a blockchain that is not compatible with the EVM. She also outlined the ambitious goal of onboarding 500 million users on-chain.
Talking about it, Shmalko emphasised the impressive growth of the $TON ecosystem, noting a 2,000% increase in Total Value Locked (TVL) in recent months.
This growth has been fueled by initiatives like The Open League, which targets both $TON users and builders, resulting in significant engagement.
Currently, Toncoin ($TON) is priced at $7.35, with a market cap of $18.4 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $304.87 million.
The recent announcement of the TAC project also aligns with similar moves in the crypto industry.
The news comes as other major blockchain companies have been developing their own layer-2 networks over the past year, mainly on Ethereum.
In August, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase launched its “Base” blockchain using Optimism’s OP Stack on Ethereum, starting the trend.
Since then, protocols like Celo and Worldcoin have announced plans to launch layer-2 rollups with OP Stack on Ethereum.
Additionally, in April, cryptocurrency exchange OKX released an Ethereum layer-2 network called “X Layer” using Polygon’s CDK.
