# @Eli5defi: TON ran +115% as Telegram took control, cut fees 6x

Source: https://x.com/Eli5defi/status/2053715744500982077
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Eli5defi-TON-ran-115percent-as-Telegram-took-control-cut-fees-6x?index=0x6a02f39806f2d1bafbc28bbb7a352f2d2678c63940300b023963d36befdb0fb5dd4e9d4f
Submitted by rvolz.eth on 2026-05-12 UTC, 2 upvotes, 0 comments

## Summary

Telegram's takeover of operational control of TON, along with a roughly 6x cut in fees and faster block times, is presented as the main drivers behind TON's 115% gain in the past week, while most of the market stayed flat. The post says Telegram became TON's largest validator on May 4, staking about 2.2M TON and replacing the TON Foundation as the network's operational steward. It also cites Catchain 2.0, which reduced block times from about 2.5 seconds to about 400 milliseconds, and a transaction cost drop from about 0.00039 TON to about $0.0005. The author, while calling the number of Telegram's users a top-of-funnel figure, says mini-app daily active users have not risen significantly alongside the price.

## Article

ICYMI: $TON ran +115% this past week while most of the market stayed flat.

Here’s the 30s breakdown, with 3 main reasons:

❶ @telegram Took Operational Control

→ May 4: @durov announced Telegram is now @ton_blockchain’s largest validator
→ Staked ~2.2M TON, funding additional validators
→ Replaces the TON Foundation as the network’s operational steward
→ “Make TON Great Again” (MTONGA) roadmap, with a renewed focus on blockchain distribution to 1B+ users

-

❷ The ~400 ms Block Times + Sub-cent Fees

▸ Catchain 2.0
→ Block times: ~2.5s → ~400ms
→ Throughput: ~10x increase
→ Finality: ~1 second

▸ Fee cut ~6x
→ Transaction cost: ~0.00039 TON → ~$0.0005
→ Micropayments, tips, and mini-app loops become practical at scale

-

❸ Staking & Ecosystem Momentum

▸ Staking APR pushed past 20% in some validator sets
▸ More TON locked → less circulating supply → potential supply shock
▸ New tooling and performance upgrades in ~2–3 weeks (per Durov)
▸ SCRYPT integration for stablecoin access (USDT on TON) → already live
▸ TON Teleport BTC bridge → targeted for later this year
▸ Ongoing mini-app and TON Connect expansion

-

TON now has three things L1s almost never get, plus massive distribution, but there are some concerns on my end

"1B+ users" is a top-of-funnel number, not a TON-user number

→ TON wallet activations are still a small slice of Telegram's user base.
→ Mini-app DAU is the metric that matters. It hasn't increased significantly alongside the price.
→ Distribution access ≠ distribution conversion.

So, what do you think?

Are we about to see TON become the leading L1?