TON’s Unconventional Rise in DeFi: From Viral Games to Institutional Appeal

The Open Network (TON) has emerged as a dark horse in decentralized finance, combining Telegram's massive user base with institutional-grade infrastructure. Processing 2.6 billion transactions since 2020, TON's ecosystem now commands serious attention from professional investors.

Viral tap-to-earn games like Notcoin and Hamster Kombat became unexpected accelerants, with the latter peaking at 300 million users. Daily active addresses skyrocketed from 20,000 in January 2024—demonstrating how gamification can drive adoption where traditional DeFi onboarding falters.

TON's architecture bridges retail accessibility with sophisticated financial tools, creating a unique value proposition. Institutional interest grows as the network demonstrates both scalability and a ready-made user funnel through Telegram's ecosystem.