Telegram-Backed TON Blockchain Adds End-to-End Encryption to Messages, Boosts Privacy Factor

Now controlled by the TON Foundation, the blockchain keeps getting newer updates to cater to the needs of its users.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Manas Mitul | Updated: 4 July 2023 13:43 IST

Telegram-Backed TON Blockchain Adds End-to-End Encryption to Messages, Boosts Privacy Factor

Photo Credit: Pexels/ Sora Shimazaki

TON was conceptualised around 2018 by Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram

Highlights

TON blockchain is now overseen by the TON Foundation
It will let users opt in for end-to-end encryption
Unocoin offers TON’s native TonCoin for trade in India

The TON blockchain network will now let users share messages and financial transaction details with each other, with a layer of encryption protecting their privacy. The creation of The Open Network (TON) blockchain was initiated around 2018 by Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram. The TON mainnet went live and completely operational around last year. Now controlled by the TON Foundation, the blockchain keeps getting newer updates to cater to the needs of all its users.

Up until now, when a TON user sent a message tagged to a financial transaction to another user, it used to be open to the public. With the new update however, users will be allowed to encrypt their messages end-to-end — accessible only to the end recipient.

Basically, TON users, who sent text greetings on birthdays and anniversaries to their peers along with Toncoin or NFT gifts, will be able to do so with complete encryption.

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In an official Twitter announcement, the team behind TON posted a video clip demonstrating this new feature.

The clip shows that encrypting messages on TON would be an optional feature, which users will have to select specifically to activate it.

TON Foundation Introduces Encrypted Transaction Messages:point_down::gem:https://t.co/HXKtk0gxKC pic.twitter.com/0z1z4E5ku1
— TON :gem: (@ton_blockchain) July 3, 2023

“Even in the event of an apocalypse and the failure of conventional messenger servers, you will retain the ability to send messages via the decentralised TON blockchain,” reports quoted Anatoly Makosov, a Core developer at TON Foundation, as saying.

While TON was conceptualised by Telegram founder Durov, it was later abandoned. The open-source code of the blockchain, however, was available for people to build on.

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Later, under the oversight of the TON Foundation, the blockchain began showing promise and growth.

In November last year, crypto investment company DWF Labs invested $10 million (roughly Rs. 80 crore) in the Layer-1 blockchain network.

To drive the adoption of this eco-friendly, proof-of-stake blockchain, the foundation had auctioned rare usernames in October last year.

In April 2022, the TON foundation had raised $1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,900 crore) in donations to further its development efforts.

Unocoin crypto exchange listed Toncoin for trade in India last year and is the only exchange to have done so till now.

Each TONCOIN is currently trading at $1.43 (roughly Rs. 117) with a market cap of $7.2 billion (roughly Rs. 59,053 crore), as per CoinMarketCap.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Ton, Telegram, Encryption

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More