The TON blockchain platform was a very ambitious project but did not fully materialize. There are many problems and proceedings that literally destroyed the aspirations of the creators. So be careful, some sites offer the sale of Gram (TON coins), but they do not exist. There is no emission as well as the buy and sell rate. But the prospects for the platform were very good.
Ton and Its Ambitions
Pavel Durov, the father and creator of an innovative blockchain platform, has set an ambitious goal. This system was supposed to solve many problems and strengthen different weaknesses. To be more specific, it had to do the following:
- Increase the speed of transactions. TON wanted to speed up transactions to a few seconds. The objective was to reach the level of Visa and MasterCard payment systems. And all this was needed to create a competitive environment in the field of payment transfers at the global level. Compared to Bitcoin, where the transaction speed sometimes reaches a day, TON is just incredibly fast.
- Protection against fraud. It was believed that the new cryptocurrency would succeed and beat Bitcoin. Therefore, special attention was paid to the security system. The main direction concerned the use of vulnerabilities in decentralization.
- Friendship with legislation. Opportunities to work in the conditions of legal and legislative restrictions that could be imposed by governments of different countries were actively developed.
In theory, it was possible to solve all these problems. But, most likely, everything turned out to be not that good since the blockchain platform and the Gram coins did not enter the market.
Solutions, Ideas, and Implementation
The first and most important thing that the developers tried to do was to minimize the transaction execution time. The following solutions were used for implementation:
- Endless sharding. The problem with modern blockchains is that users have to store hundreds of gigabytes of information about past transactions. And the TON solution is the division into parts that can work autonomously. An exception is sending between different shards. The results are a saving of space and faster work.
- Off-chain transactions are not committed to the chain. They are less reliable. But they allow you to make a transaction instantly and without commission.
The creators came up with a solution, and it consisted of fixing blocks in the chain. It was proposed to implement a two-dimensional blockchain with the ability to fix compromised blocks. Another one had attributed to these, and it had to contain instructions for correcting.
It is logical that such a large-scale project would face financial regulation in many countries around the world. The cryptocurrency market is already regulated at the legislative level. Moreover, the main message is to secure the crypto wallet for an individual or legal entity. It binds to real documents. Such a technique opens up opportunities for full payment of taxes.
In this case, the solution was found, and its name was Telegram Passport. When using this tool, documents were downloaded and stored encrypted. At the request of payment systems, they are provided in one click. This technique has its own zest, namely the work of a Telegram Passport. It does not store scanned copies of documents in the messenger database. That is, the law on the protection of personal data does not apply here.
Organization of the Financial System
In addition to solving significant problems of existing cryptocurrencies, the creators of TON offered a fairly understandable organization of the financial system.
From the beginning, the developers decided to abandon mining, so 5 billion coins were formed immediately. 50% of them went to TON Reserve. It is a non-profit organization whose main task is to keep the Gram against the dollar. That is, if the price falls, the purchase of coins begins, as well as the provision of new ones at a higher price (+ 2%) than last year.
The TON Foundation is the structure that was supposed to support the systems. 10% of the coins were redirected there. Developers also received a reward of 4% of the total Gram volume.
For private investors, a fairly significant share of coins remained. And at first, they were sold only to wholesale investors at $ 20 million per package.
TON Proxy
Since cryptocurrencies are not allowed in every country, it is logical that even before the launch, the TON developers foresaw this moment. A proxy is needed to bypass various restrictions of non-democratic states. TON Proxy has the functionality of an anonymizer. It hides real IP-addresses when the platform is used. This would make it possible to effectively fight the censorship bodies. It was this development that made it possible to work on the blockchain network using the P2P method, which was an analog of the Tor architecture.
When TON Proxy is enabled, centralized IP addresses are not used because they can be calculated and blocked. In turn, blockchain clients contact each other through a central server. This makes it possible to exclude attempts to block the platform in any region.
Another significant innovation of TON could be the use of garlic routing to replace the onion routing, which is used in Tor. The essence of the innovation is that, in addition to the exchange of information on the network, a one-to-one variation is also added to the one-to-many variation. And this allows you to deploy full-fledged Darknet sites on the network.
TON Payments
This is the name of the internal payment system based on the digital currency Gram. Although it is the default means of payment, it is not the only one that can be used in the system. Using this tool, it is possible to transfer tokens using different cryptocurrencies within the system.
External Secure Identifier
In other words, this is a Telegram Passport, which excludes blocking the platform in different countries. Its use helps to conduct financial transactions in a partially anonymous mode. But at the same time, buying and selling cryptocurrency using bank cards is a difficult process. And all because many banks refuse to carry out such operations. To eliminate all these troubles, the Telegram Passport was invented.
Its essence is that users have the right and the ability to disclose their identity at the request of the system participants. This may be required to provide financial services. The simplest example is exchanging cryptocurrencies for dollars and transferring funds to a card.
This identifier is tied to the data store in which scanned copies of documents are stored. Users upload this data themselves. For protection, personal data is encrypted and closed with a personal key. That is, they become inaccessible to a wide range of people. Even the TON team does not have access to them. If the user needs to disclose this information, he or she can do it. Among the personal data that need to be entered into the system are the following:
- The photo.
- Scanned copies of your passport or driver's license.
- Proof of address. It can be a scan of a utility bill or an invoice.
- Information about bank cards.
To complete the procedure, you will need to go through verification on a third-party service. That is, TON provides storage of personal data without Telegram accessing them. Actually, this allows you to bypass the law on personal data.
What Happened to a TON
The launch of a fairly promising cryptocurrency and its blockchain, respectively, was planned to happen in October 2019. Moreover, the developers promised to return the investment if this does not happen. A few weeks before the launch, the TON team announced that the SEC got a ban on the sale of tokens due to their recognition as securities. That is, the launch of the new system was postponed indefinitely.
Numerous legal proceedings have failed to bring positive results for the system. On May 12, 2020, Pavel Durov officially announced the closure of the TON project. Accordingly, the use of Gram cryptocurrency becomes impossible.
The new blockchain actually had many perspectives, which included modern decentralized file storage, a platform for developers, a modern proxy, and much more. But the Durov brothers were not able to finish the project. Now they have to deal with investors and, possibly, create new ideas and try to implement them.