DeFi directly connects to TG's one billion users. Can TAC revitalize the TON ecosystem whose TVL has been "knee-cut"?

The TON Application Chain (TAC) officially launched its mainnet on Tuesday, a move aimed at enabling Ethereum-compatible decentralized finance (DeFi) applications to run within Telegram’s massive user ecosystem.

According to the official announcement, with the activation of the TAC mainnet, Ethereum DeFi protocols including Curve, Morpho and Euler can be used on Telegram through the chain.

The TAC token ($TAC) rose in the short term after the mainnet was launched, with the increase exceeding 50% at one point, reaching a high of $0.0248. As of press time, it has fallen back to around $0.026.

Technical Path: How to “move” Ethereum DeFi into Telegram?

TAC is built as a Layer 1 blockchain based on CosmosEVM. Its core design concept is to provide a "TON-specific cross-chain layer" to connect Ethereum's DApps and developers with Telegram's more than 1 billion monthly active users. This technical path aims to solve the problem that the TON blockchain itself is incompatible with EVM, allowing EVM-based DApps to access Telegram's exclusive blockchain infrastructure, the TON blockchain, through TAC.

In addition, TAC's ecosystem has also been supported by powerful infrastructure partners, including LayerZero, RedStone, Blockscout, and Babylon. These collaborations will provide TAC with cross-chain messaging and oracle data streaming services to ensure the smooth operation and data accuracy of DeFi applications in the Telegram environment.

Currently, well-known Ethereum DeFi protocols including Curve Finance, Morpho and Euler have landed on Telegram through TAC, providing users with decentralized trading and lending services.

Distribution strategy: Leverage Telegram’s user scale advantage

In the DeFi space, distribution channels are seen as a key element to success.

Taking the Base chain as an example, its user growth is inseparable from the distribution of Coinbase; the core of TAC's strategy is to obtain access to the TON ecosystem and reach Telegram's huge user base through TON. It is said that users only need "one click" to use DeFi applications, conduct transactions or farm income.

Andrew Klebanov, managing partner of The Open Platform (TOP) Labs, said that TAC’s mainnet launch is “an important step in bringing DeFi to the mainstream” and aims to provide “real practical utility” to more than one billion users.

Telegram's ambitions obviously go beyond this. In January this year, the social giant reached an agreement with the TON Foundation, requiring all blockchain applets to be developed based on TON. Subsequently, it launched a digital asset tokenization plan. Founder Pavel Durov mentioned the deep integration of social and finance, and said: "We want every chat window to become a financial portal."

The Open Platform Labs (TOP) just completed a $28.5 million Series A+ round of financing in early July, with a valuation of over $1 billion. According to people familiar with the matter, one of the investors is a Middle Eastern sovereign fund. Therefore, compared with other Layer1 projects, TAC has a unique advantage: it does not need to cultivate user habits from scratch, but directly stands on the shoulders of the giant Telegram.

TON Ecosystem: Idealistic, but Realistic

However, whether the enthusiasm of capital can be transformed into substantial ecological prosperity still needs the answer from the market. After obtaining good financing and resource support, TON's future development still faces realistic tests - looking back, 2024 was a year of ice and fire for the TON ecosystem. In the first half of the year, TVL once exceeded US$760 million, but it suffered a halving in August and is now less than US$150 million.

TAC currently faces three challenges: first, how to attract high-quality DApp developers to continue building when the overall TON ecosystem is sluggish; second, how to break through the dilemma of "popular but not profitable" and truly activate the participation of Telegram's billion-level users; and finally, the old-fashioned regulatory environment, especially when it comes to the chain.

After all, it is not that easy to get more than one billion chat users to suddenly play with DEFI. Time will tell how far this experiment connecting the two major ecosystems can go.