31 January 2019 17:17, UTC

TON used to disappear from the media field. Now the sensational project of Durov brothers called Telegram Open Network (abbreviated as TON) is on the way to a triumphal return. Would this promising and game-changing project look somewhat grotesque against the whole crypto industry barely showing signs of life? Or, perhaps, it would serve as a gulp of a life-giving elixir and thus become a catalyst for the start of the recovery mechanism?

TON was in the spotlight on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos once again — it was rumored that the creator of Telegram is likely to present the project during the event. Rumors went even further: there were talks about a number of partners gaining access to the testnet. There was a talk about the platform being complete by 70%; January brought news about 90% readiness. The cryptocurrency world froze in anticipation of a glorious launch. However, the forum in Davos is over — and ... nothing still happened. Like a flashback to the last year, the cryptocurrencies were again publicly criticized by many investors. So what happens in the Telegram camp right now then?

Everything is roadmap due. Or not?

A year ago, the TON project collected about $1.7 bln from more than a hundred investors. The Bell reports about a big investor meet-up to be held over the next 30 days, according to their insiders. However, despite the progress, the changes in the road map were done after all. So, there is a possibility of delaying the launch. A testnet audit will be conducted during February to identify any minor errors. It is assumed that the main network will be open for public testing in March 2019.

It is also known that on January 17, Pavel DUROV sent a message to investors, claiming that 2018 was a successful period for the development of Telegram, but 2019 will be the most important stage in the history of the company. He promised to implement the planned changes in the product and stressed that in 2019 "the dreams of Telegram users will become a reality."

Figure 1. TON Roadmap

Currently, the TON team is also exploring legal challenges that are likely to be encountered in various countries. TON Issuer Inc negotiates with crypto exchanges; there is a high probability that Japan will become the starting point for Gram, the project's token.

TON is capable of “turning tides”

TON is designed to become a competitor to Ethereum. Is it possible to compete with the most developed platform for smart contracts and dApps? TON would say — why not. Recently, Ethereum has been getting criticised very often, with the planned Constantinople upgrade having encountered a lot of problems.

EXANTE expert Viktor ARGONOV believes that Durov has the potential to change the current situation on the market: “In fact, he offers a whole ecosystem with a massive user base, a popular instant messenger, internal cryptocurrency and an encrypted space for free websites. At the same time, the developers promise a tremendous speed comparable to Visa and transactions faster than that of Bitcoin.”

According to sources close to the TON team, all the components needed to launch the smart contracts were fully implemented and internally tested; however, the modifications are expected to delay the final release. The situation is similar to a game of chess, where each player is afraid to make the first aggressive move, preferring to pass the initiative to the opponent.

“It is likely that the TON ecosystem will become especially popular in countries with a high level of government pressure on information freedoms — like Iran or China,” – Viktor ARGONOV added.

It is also worth noting that TON uses the Proof-of-Stake algorithm and does not resort to mining. If the speed of payments and other declared advantages of TON turn out to become a reality, then the project has every chance to “turn the tides” in the world of cryptocurrencies. All we need to do is to wait just a little bit longer and see it for ourselves.

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