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How does TON leverage 1B Telegram users? Max Crown shares how social NFTs and Web3 tools drive TON’s mass adoption strategy.
With Telegram now boasting more than a billion users globally, few blockchain ecosystems have a clearer distribution advantage than TON. Originally conceived as Telegram’s native blockchain, TON has quietly evolved into one of the most ambitious attempts to embed Web3 infrastructure directly into a mainstream consumer platform.
In an interview Max Crown, President and CEO of the TON Foundation, explains why TON has succeeded where others have struggled — and how its consumer-first design, social NFTs and institutional traction are shaping its next phase of growth.
Built for Scale From Day One
According to Crown, TON’s core advantage lies in its original design philosophy.
“Most blockchains were built for crypto-native experimentation first and only later tried to retrofit themselves into consumer platforms,” he said. “TON took the opposite approach.”
From its inception, TON was engineered for internet-scale usage — prioritising fast finality, low latency and predictable costs. That technical foundation, Crown argues, shaped the ecosystem’s culture.
“The developer culture optimised for usability and speed rather than complexity or financial engineering,” he said. “Applications on TON feel much closer to mainstream mobile apps than traditional Web3 products — intuitive, social and instant.”