Pantera Capital Announces Investment in Layer-1 Blockchain Toncoin, Triggering Modest Price Jump for TON

Crypto asset manager Pantera Capital announced on Thursday that it’s investing in the layer-1 altcoin TON, triggering a modest rally for the asset.

TON is the native token for a layer-1 blockchain initially developed by the encrypted messaging platform Telegram.

Telegram parted ways with the project in 2020 following a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Open Network, an open-source community of developers, took over management of the technology that year.

TON, however, can still be sent by Telegram’s 700 million users within the platform without entering long wallet addresses.

That connection to Telegram drove Pantera’s decision to invest in the project, according to Ryan Barney, a partner at the crypto asset manager.

“We believe TON has the capacity to introduce crypto to the masses because it is used extensively within the Telegram network. Telegram has over 900 million monthly active users on its future-facing, fast, and secure messaging platform that is used for personal and group communications, large-scale community building, content sharing, and more.

By leveraging Telegram’s vast user base and seamless UX with the vibrancy of TON’s emerging ecosystem, we believe TON has the potential to become one of the largest crypto networks.”

TON went from trading around $4.75 in the early morning hours on Friday to $5.16 at time of writing, an increase of more than 8.5%.

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