Animoca Brands Becomes TON Validator

Leading Web3 venture firm Animoca Brands is now the largest validator for The Open Network (TON) blockchain. This collaboration between the TON Foundation and Animoca Brands aims to draw new users to Web3 through Telegram-based mini-apps.

"Together, we will infuse Web3 seamlessly into the daily experiences of Telegram users, particularly in gaming, for a global audience to enjoy," said Justin Hyun, Director of Growth at TON Foundation.

TON has processed over 165M transactions to date, with daily transactions remaining steady this year at around 200K.

A particular area of interest for Animoca is TON Play, a gaming infrastructure platform that enables gaming projects built on TON to launch directly onto Telegram and allows developers to port existing web games into Telegram. By leveraging Telegram's active user base of over 800 million, TON Play offers game developers the opportunity to reach a vast global audience.

The blockchain’s native TON token is up 18% in the past month.

“This strategic investment in TON is a key part of our broader commitment to help onboard the next million Web3 users by facilitating a seamless transition from Web2 to Web3,” said Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, which holds stakes in over 400 Web3 companies through Animoca Ventures, making it one of the most active investors in the sector.