Animoca Becomes Largest Validator of Telegram's TON Blockchain

Partnership to Bring Blockchain-Based Games to Telegram's 800 Million Users

Web3 investment firm Animoca Brands has announced a partnership with Telegram's TON (The Open Network) blockchain that will make it the largest validator of the platform. The collaboration will involve funding, research, and an analytics platform for third-party TON ecosystem applications. The value of Animoca's investment has not been disclosed, but part of it is known to have been made directly into Toncoin. Animoca plans to support TON Play, a gaming infrastructure project on the TON blockchain, and explore the possibility of porting its gaming titles and applications to Telegram.

Driving Web3 Adoption

Animoca Brands has conducted extensive market research on TON's wider ecosystem and its potential to drive cryptocurrency and GameFi adoption. Through TON Play, developers will be able to deliver games to Telegram's 800 million users via the web application and the mobile app's PlayDeck bot. Animoca has also developed its own TON Analytics Dashboard to gather metrics from TON's open internet ecosystem, which includes TON Blockchain, TON DNS, TON Storage, and TON Sites.

Web3 Transition and Growth Potential

According to Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu, the investment in TON aligns with the firm's efforts to drive the transition from Web2 to Web3. Siu believes in the growth potential of gaming within the TON ecosystem and intends to develop TON-based games in the coming years. This partnership marks the second instance of Animoca becoming a validator of a proof-of-stake blockchain protocol after joining Chiliz Chain as a validator in November 2023.

Disclaimer: This article is a rewrite of an existing piece of content. The information and views expressed in the article are those of the original author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Animoca Brands or The Guardian.