Building a consumer-ready dApp comes with a unique set of challenges and requirements. You need a scalable infrastructure that won’t crumble under heavy user demand, a low-latency system that feels as responsive as traditional apps, and a user-friendly onboarding that doesn’t intimidate non-crypto-natives.
Yes, Layer 2 scaling solutions address a part of the aforementioned issues, but not without leaving a trail of new ones. They improve scalability, but fragment liquidity and userbase. They increase throughput, but at the expense of usability. This lack of non-uniformity makes distribution of dApps a large hurdle; even more so for small-to-medium developers.
@ton_blockchain eliminates this bottleneck by providing an ecosystem that is closely integrated with @telegram's nearly 1 billion user base.
This article explores why developers should consider building on The Open Network and how their apps can be a part of the larger TON ecosystem.
Exploring Beyond EVM: Building dApps on TON
The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) has long been the backbone of dApp development, powering ecosystems like @ethereum, @BNBCHAIN, and @0xPolygon.
While EVM compatibility offers broad interoperability and a mature developer toolkit, its limitations are important to consider when building a “go mainstream” DLT product.
While Layer 2 solutions, like @Optimism and @arbitrum, improve throughput, they add complexity, fragment liquidity, and still incur fees far higher than TON’s near−zero transaction costs.
Importantly, the user base, which developers can easily reach, is comprised mostly of a limited number of crypto-native users.
For developers locked into EVM-based chains, the inability to access TON’s unique advantages translates into missed opportunities for scalability, user adoption, and innovation.
So, what does TON offer that other chains don’t?
1. ~One Billion User Base
TON’s greatest competitive advantage is its exclusive integration with Telegram, one of the largest messaging platforms in the world, with over 950 million active users. This ecosystem provides a pre-built distribution network for dApps."99.999% of blockchain projects are a tech idea trying to create a community – from nothing. … That’s a hard road for most. Telegram is a community integrating blockchain technology. That’s just got to be easier." --- Dan Morehead, CEO of Pantera Capital
Such a distribution network, in a niche as small as web3, is something no other blockchain can currently match.
But numbers alone don’t guarantee adoption if the onboarding experience is complex. Hence, TON streamlined the process to make it as intuitive and frictionless as possible.
Users don’t need to install separate wallets or deal with complex blockchain addresses. Telegram’s built-in @wallet_tg, enables frictionless access to all dApps. Recently, the messaging platform announced an exclusive integration with the TON blockchain, ceasing support for all other chains.
The virality factor for projects building on TON is unprecedented. Take the TON-based game, Catizen, for example. The dApp onboarded 23 million users in about 5 months, and over 500k paying users of the game had never used a wallet before. Now, that’s a feat nearly impossible on most other chains due to onboarding friction.
2. High Scalability, Low Cost
TON was built to handle mass adoption from day one with its multi-layered architecture. TON’s architecture optimizes speed, cost-efficiency, and decentralization. Dynamic sharding, a technique wherein the network automatically splits into multiple subdivisions of the blockchain used to enhance scalability and efficiency, is employed to handle increasing demand.
Interestingly, this is also the future that Ethereum is moving to. However, Ethereum’s design choices are more restrictive, and upgrades are slow. Many other high-performance chains, like NEAR, employ sharding in their architecture.
3. TON Virtual Machine
The TON Virtual Machine (TVM) is a stack-based virtual machine that executes smart contracts on the network. It is purpose-built for scalability and efficiency to handle a high volume of transactions and enable the development of consumer dApps.
One of the stand-out features of the TVM is its support for multiple smart contract languages with the primary language being FunC.
However, for many developers coming from EVM-based environments, there is a learning curve to transition to TVM. This is where TAC steps in, offering a familiar development environment by enabling EVM-compatible smart contracts within the TON ecosystem.
TVM is also modular, meaning new features and optimizations can be added without overhauling the entire system. This is a key advantage over other more rigid architectures like EVM or SVM. With TAC, builders can tap into this flexibility without abandoning Solidity entirely.
4. Built-In New-Age TON Services
TON provides developers with a full-fledged ecosystem and built-in services that enhance usability. These features allow developers to build consumer-facing dApps without relying on external infrastructure providers like AWS, Cloudflare, or traditional domain registrars.
Most dApps today still rely on centralized cloud storage providers to host their data, front-end, and assets. This creates a single point of failure and goes against the ethos of decentralization. TON Storage is a decentralized file storage solution for dApps to store data directly on the blockchain, similar to @IPFS or @ArweaveEco.
TON Proxy is a built-in privacy layer that allows users and dApps to access the blockchain without interference or surveillance.
Build With TAC
TAC is a Layer 1, introducing a novel TON-Adapter enabling Ethereum dApps to access Telegram’s 950M+ user base.
If you’re an EVM developer wondering how to tap into TON without abandoning your existing tools, TAC offers a seamless solution:
- Hybrid dApp with EVM Compatibility: TAC is built on @cosmos SDK and Ethermint, allowing you to deploy EVM-based contracts while leveraging TON’s ecosystem. It makes the EVM app a hybrid TVM/EVM with transactional logic on TVM and app core logic on EVM.
- Decentralized Sequencer Network - TON Adapter: A robust mechanism to relay data securely between TAC’s EVM Layer 1 and the TON blockchain, ensuring smooth cross-chain interaction.
- Unified Liquidity: TAC brings Ethereum and BTC-based assets into the TON ecosystem, along with native liquidity. These assets contribute towards a much larger TVL and increase utility within the dApps.
- Advanced Smart Contract features: Flash loans, atomic swaps, and yield farming aggregators enrich the TON ecosystem with enhanced functionality.
- UX Simplification: Through the TON Adapter, end users can interact with EVM dApps directly within Telegram or from their TON wallets, meaning no extra wallets or complicated bridging.
The TAC testnet is launching on February 5th, 2025. It will be a defining moment in shaping consumer-facing dApps infrastructure. For developers, this is your chance to be among the first to build and test mainstream-ready dApps on TON within the Telegram superapp.
More users, more liquidity, more utility!
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