Alumni from the TON Foundation Establish TON Ventures, Boasting a $40 Million Initial Fund
In a significant move for the blockchain industry, TON Ventures, a new for-profit venture firm co-founded by Ian Wittkopp and Inal Kardan, has announced its focus on investing in startups building on the Open Network or TON Blockchain. The firm, which has raised an inaugural fund of $40 million, plans to expand its portfolio, backing projects in the later stages including big protocols joining the TON ecosystem.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and TON
Projects like STON.fi are central to TON’s DeFi space. STON.fi incentivizes liquidity providers with staking rewards and token mining via their native token $STON, facilitating seamless token trading and liquidity pool redemption using Toncoin ($TON).
Gaming on TON
TON hosts several rapidly growing GameFi projects integrated within Telegram, such as Notcoin, which attracted over 35 million players, and Hamster Kombat, a viral NFT-based crypto exchange simulator rewarding players with its native HMSTR coin. These games offer accessible play-to-earn models deeply embedded in Telegram’s interface.
Advertising and Marketing on TON
Telegram uses $TON as the exclusive payment method for Telegram Ads in most countries, creating a direct utility channel for TON in the vast social network with over 1 billion monthly active users. This integration makes TON the sole blockchain for Telegram’s mini-app ecosystem and tokenized assets like usernames and gift NFTs, opening innovative ad and marketing revenue flows.
Regulated Financial Products on TON
TON Strategy Co. (formerly Verb Technology Company) plans to become the first publicly traded treasury reserve of Toncoin, with $558 million raised to acquire TON and generate sustainable staking income, indicating institutional confidence and regulated financial product development around $TON as a treasury asset.
Institutional Backing and Venture Investments
Coinbase Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Benchmark, Ribbit Capital, Pantera Capital, Ryze Labs, and Animoca Brands have made major investments into TON, signaling strong venture support for scaling DeFi, gaming, and regulated financial applications within TON’s ecosystem.
The strategic ecosystem growth leverages Telegram’s integrated self-custodial TON wallet (active with 87 million U.S. users) and the broader user base exceeding 1 billion globally, offering a robust platform for upcoming TON Ventures investments in DeFi wealth creation, monetizable gaming, expanding ad/marketing via blockchain, and regulated treasury product initiatives.
In summary, TON Ventures is actively investing in:
- Decentralized Finance protocols with staking and liquidity mining (e.g., STON.fi)
- GameFi and NFT-based games with millions of users (Notcoin, Hamster Kombat)
- Telegram-integrated advertising paid exclusively in $TON
- Institutional treasury reserve and regulated financial products through TON Strategy Co.
This holistic approach positions TON as a unique social-blockchain ecosystem combining financial, gaming, and marketing utilities with strong institutional and community backing.
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