Animoca Research: How did the win-win situation of Telegram and TON form in 2024?

Telegram's full-year revenue in 2024 is expected to reach at least $971 million, and could exceed the $1 billion mark, thanks to the collaboration with TON. This article is sourced from the article 'TON Part 2: A win-win outcome from oneyear of partnership' by Animoca Brands Research, compiled and translated by Chain Catcher. (Background: Telegram's first half revenue broke $500 million, 'rise 190% YoY', TON's rise, subscription model as key factors) Original title: TON Part 2: A win-win outcome from oneyear of partnership Key questions: How is TON progressing towards the goal of introducing 500 million users to Cryptocurrency? What strategies is the TON Foundation adopting to elevate the ecosystem to a higher level? What benefits has Telegram gained from its collaboration with TON? Table of Contents Introduction Three-step strategy Step 1: Promote 'Click to Earn' social games to introduce users to Telegram Mini Apps Step 2: Convert Mini-App players into Crypto-asset holders through Token Airdrops Step 3: Retain Crypto-asset users through Decentralized Finance applications Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and Catizen Rise of the TON blockchain Activity Lockup Total Value Locked (TVL) comparison with other Layer 1 networks Conclusion on TON's success Features related to Telegram's collaboration with TON Rise in popularity of the Telegram platform Impact on Telegram's profitability Conclusion TL;DR In September 2023, the TON Foundation and Telegram announced a strategic collaboration with the goal of introducing 30% of Telegram's active users to the TON on-chain ecosystem by 2028. As the infrastructure layer, TON utilized Telegram Mini-Apps to cover and attract Telegram's massive user base. The success of Notcoin paved the way for Mini-App users through social games. Subsequently, users gradually entered the Cryptocurrency field through game Tokens and Airdrops of meme coins. To support this rise, the foundation utilized TON Grants, The Open League, and offline events to achieve its goals. In July 2024, Telegram Mini Apps reached 500 million monthly active users (MAU), driving Telegram's overall MAU to a new high of 95 million. By October, 30 million users had successfully entered the Cryptocurrency field. The high interactivity of Telegram Mini Apps not only enhanced user engagement on the Telegram platform, but also significantly increased platform revenue, especially through the exclusive use of Toncoin in high-tier account subscriptions and advertising platforms. Telegram is expected to achieve its first profitable year in 2024, with full-year revenue potentially reaching $1 billion. To further accelerate the rise of the ecosystem, the TON Foundation is transitioning from a centralized governance model to a community-driven fund allocation model through 'Society DAO'. This shift aims to promote more development and innovation within the ecosystem. Introduction In September 2023, the TON Foundation deepened its collaboration with Telegram, aiming to introduce 30% of Telegram's active users to the TON on-chain ecosystem by 2028. Since the announcement, the TON Foundation has been committed to nurturing the Telegram Mini-App (TMA) ecosystem, positioning Mini-Apps as the gateway for Telegram's existing users to enter the Cryptocurrency ecosystem. This collaboration enabled TON to reach over 900 million Telegram users. For Telegram, the community activities of the TON Foundation and its organization have become the core market expansion force of the Mini-App ecosystem, filling the market gap caused by the company's streamlined operations. This article will explore the progress of both parties since the collaboration and its impact to date. Three-step strategy The collaboration announcement proposed that Mini Apps, as an intermediary layer, connect the TON infrastructure with Telegram's Web2 user base. Successfully implementing this strategy requires addressing the following three key questions: How to attract Telegram users to enter Mini Apps? How to convert Mini-App users into Crypto-asset users? How to retain these Crypto-asset users in the long term? Jack Booth, former Head of Market Development at the TON Foundation and co-founder of TON Society, shared his insights on this strategy in a podcast interview in August 2023: 'We make everyone involved through 'Click to Earn', and then some users can easily conduct global Cryptocurrency transactions through DMs. Then, some of these users will start using more complex Decentralized Finance products on TON. That's the logic of the whole plan.' In summary, the foundation's answers to the above questions are: Promote 'Click to Earn' social games to attract users to Telegram Mini Apps. Convert Mini-App players into Crypto-asset users through Token Airdrops. Retain Crypto-asset users through Decentralized Finance applications. In fact, these three-step strategies resemble a retrospective summary of the community-driven innovative development process, rather than a top-down plan execution. Next, we will explore these three parts in detail. Step 1: Promote 'Click to Earn' social games to attract users to Telegram Mini Apps After initiating the collaboration with Telegram, the TON Foundation actively promoted the development of Mini-Apps through its community interaction channels. In the third quarter of 2024, GameFi projects began to appear in the recipients of TON Grants, alongside traditional on-chain functionality projects. This change indicates that the foundation has recognized the significant potential of game development in promoting the ubiquity of Mini-Apps. In January 2024, the first sensational Mini-App game, Notcoin, went live. This 'Click to Earn' social game quickly became a hotspot on Telegram, attracting 35 million users before its TGE. Interestingly, Notcoin was entirely community-driven and was not initially included in the foundation's plans. However, its success prompted the foundation to include social games in the key funding areas. In the first half of 2024, the funding...