Coinbase Ventures, the investment division of the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, has made an investment in The Open Network (TON) by directly acquiring Toncoin, according to a statement released by the TON Foundation. The foundation joined well-known sponsors Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, and Benchmark in calling the action a “huge vote of confidence” in the TON ecosystem.
Investors including Sequoia Capital, Ribbit, Paradigm, Benchmark, and Kingsway all purchased Toncoin rather than equity in March, demonstrating their trust in its position as the network’s main utility token. This investment is consistent with the $400 million in funding that TON was able to secure earlier that month. The foundation stressed that these deals are direct token purchases meant to capitalize on Toncoin’s ecosystem utility rather than conventional equity investment rounds.
Also read: Coinbase begins rollout of DEX trading to U.S. region
Treasury plans and ecosystem growth via Telegram
Toncoin daily price chart showing market reaction to July 10 treasury plan news and August 11 Coinbase Ventures investment confirmation.
According to a July Bloomberg story, the TON Foundation intends to create a cryptocurrency treasury firm for Toncoin with the goal of owning at least $400 million worth of the cryptocurrency.One of TON’s primary growth strategies is still its interaction with Telegram. With more than 1 billion monthly active users, according to Statista, Telegram provides an environment in which TON is the utility currency for mini-apps, allowing for blockchain-based features. Among them are clicker-style apps that have gone popular, like Notcoin, which once had over 650,000 active users.
In January 2024, TON’s DeFi total value locked (TVL) reached an all-time high of about $800 million due to the excitement surrounding these mini-apps. However, TVL dropped to $152.48 million, indicating a decline in demand in such apps.