Telegram Founder Teases TON NFTs Valuation Boost

Pavel Durov, the founder of the messaging platform Telegram, has recently shared on X that TON-based Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are experiencing rapid growth. In the post, he included an infographic showing that many TON-based NFTs have seen significant price increases over the last 30 days.

TON NFT Market Boom

Notably, this surge in TON NFT prices shows that more people are interested in and adopting the TON (The Open Network) blockchain. Its popularity has grown steadily, especially after Telegram added TON to its platform. 

The infographic shared by Durov illustrates market changes. Collections like Precious Peach, Toy Bear on the TON blockchain, have seen their prices soar. This impressive growth can be attributed to increased trading activity, improved utility, and wider interest in decentralized applications (dApps) within the Telegram ecosystem.

Meanwhile, the announcement also brought an increase in Toncoin’s price. As of this writing, Toncoin is trading at $3.16, a 0.85% increase in the past 24 hours. Its market capitalization has soared by 0.78% to $8.03 billion.   

TON Unlocks UAE Golden Visa

Interestingly, The Open Network has announced an incentive for Toncoin holders who wish to remain in the UAE. As reported by TheCoinRise, TON offered a 10-year Golden Visa to investors in the UAE who were willing to stake a portion of their holdings on the platform.

To enjoy these benefits, a Toncoin holder needs to stake $100,000 worth of TON for a minimum of three years. They will also need to pay a one-time processing fee of $35,000. Afterwards, within seven weeks after the relevant documents are submitted, they will secure the Golden Visa for the UAE.

Importantly, this move could trigger an increased shift toward staking for Toncoin. Likewise, Toncoin whales might likely leverage the offer to obtain the UAE’s Golden Visa.

Telegram to Fully Support TON Connect

The TON blockchain was initially developed by Telegram in 2018 alongside the messaging app. However, it was later abandoned following a lawsuit from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Aside from being the original developers of TON’s programming language, Pavel Durov says the blockchain speed and usability give it an edge.

In February, it was announced that the social messaging platform now requires third-party crypto wallets to use TON Connect. This means only the TON blockchain will support crypto services on its platform. 

It is worth noting that Telegram’s decision means it will no longer support other blockchain networks. As such, this change affects developers and users who have integrated different blockchain networks into their Telegram Mini Apps.