Industry Bets On Telegram-Tether Alliance

The USDT on the TON network was integrated into several global exchanges, including Binance. This is a part of the two companies' strategy to boost USDT on TON adoption. The interest in the project is reflected in the TON token price, which is soaring due to institutional and retail demand.

Sasha Markevich

Jun 24, 2024 - 2 min read

Binance completed the integration of USDT on the TON network and opened deposits and withdrawals last week. Other major exchanges, including OKX and Gate.io, also allow these transactions on the blockchain. Adding the TON option to USDT deposits and withdrawals by centralized exchanges is a significant factor in the network's adoption.

But the Tether and TON alliance won't be limiting itself to launching the stablecoin on these crypto exchanges. Recently, TON announced their “ambitious plans to put USDT-TON in every pocket.” The companies promised to complete over 100 integrations with on/off ramps and global and local exchanges over the upcoming months.

“With local partners, we are launching integrations that let anyone acquire USDT on TON and enter the TON Ecosystem in minutes. Additionally, we are collaborating with partners to enable USDT payments for goods and services.”

Tether’s USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization, and its gold-backed XAUT tokens went live on TON (The Open Network) this April. This partnershop is a landmark deal for both sides. Tether is expected to extend its reach through Telegram's huge user base. For TON, just like for any blockchain, having the largest stablecoin on its accounts means increased revenue, liquidity, and potentially worldwide adoption.

Within months of the deal, TON entered the top of blockchains based on the volumes of issued and circulating USDT. Users are attracted by low fees: $0.09 compared to $1 on the now-leading TRC-20 and even higher ERC-20 fees. Also, USDT is integrated into Telegram through a native Wallet application, which further facilitates the stablecoin's entry into the ecosystem.

The TON project has been gaining momentum on multiple fronts lately. Since the beginning of this year, the blockchain introduced multiple new features and entered several strategic partnerships, aiming to popularize blockchain solutions among Telegram's 900 million monthly users.

Major industry investors haven't missed the significance of this alliance: after the partnership with Tether, Pantera Capital, a prominent institutional asset manager, made its “largest investment ever” in TON's native token and is raising money for a new fund, “Pantera TON Investment Opportunity,” to buy more. So far, no details have been disclosed, but we expect that the official announcement might push the token price up.

TON token overtook other major projects by market capitalization and is currently the ninth-largest cryptocurrency. It is expected to climb higher in the ranking soon, as the gap between the #8 DOGE and #9 TON is shrinking. At the time of writing, the token was trading at $7.2.