[Interview with Dr. Awesome Doge] Exploring TON’s Present and Future: Crafting the “All In One” App with Telegram

TON, backed by Telegram with 900 million monthly active users, has achieved remarkable success this year. Dr. Awesome Doge, one of the early core developers and founder of TONX, was exclusively interviewed by Dynamic Zone.
Dr. Awesome Doge, a Bitcoin OG since 2013, discussed the present and future of TON. After assisting in transitioning the TON testnet to the current executive team in 2021, he established TONX and has been committed to providing maximum technical output for the TON Foundation. Over the past two years, he has successfully hosted six hackathons and incubated over 20 teams dedicated to contributing to the TON blockchain.
Regarding the TON developer ecosystem, Dr. Awesome Doge pointed out that the Func programming language was initially a major barrier for developers. However, the foundation now promotes Tact, a language similar to Solidity, which allows developers to easily create smart contracts on TON. His role is more like guiding developers, ensuring they find their place in the TON ecosystem and providing them with the necessary information and support.
According to a Q3 2020 report, TON’s developer count grew by 17.66%, and Dr. Awesome Doge praised the courage of TON developers, especially the recent influx of Sui and Aptos developers who are willing to try new programming languages. He also noted that Taiwan is a very friendly place for blockchain developers.
On September 21, 2020, TON announced a collaboration with Tencent Cloud, with Tencent Cloud joining as a validation node for TON. This partnership allows for the establishment of more nodes globally, enhancing the performance and security of the TON blockchain, and providing Chinese users with faster Web3 API access. Notably, Tencent Cloud will also assist in building web applications and bots within Telegram, creating a “super app” similar to WeChat through Telegram’s supported Mini Apps. Dr. Awesome Doge explained that the definition of Mini Apps is not limited to Web3 TON support but has great flexibility, such as ride-hailing or Visa card services.
The ambiguous relationship between Telegram and TON in the cryptocurrency market is well-known, and the extent of their closeness has been interpreted as both positive and risky for TON. After being accused by the SEC of illegal fundraising, Telegram abandoned the TON project and refunded the funds. However, recently, Telegram’s CTO, John Hyman, and TON Foundation’s President, Steven Yun, jointly attended the Token 2049 conference in Singapore, announcing a new collaboration called “TON Space” which integrates the cryptocurrency wallet seamlessly into Telegram. This makes Telegram the world’s largest instant messaging software while also opening the door to Web3. This announcement has attracted market attention to the relationship between the two.
Regarding this issue, Dr. Awesome Doge, as an early core developer, shared his thoughts. He explained that legally, Telegram refers to TON as a third party and a different entity, but he believes that the actual distinction is not important. From his perspective, despite the need for legal differentiation, the relationship between Telegram and TON is “closely integrated,” and their integration within the application is seamless. Therefore, their goals are essentially aligned.
On April 4th, TON and its top strategic partner, TONX, will hold the first “TON Hacker House” at the JW Marriott Hotel in Hong Kong, with developers competing for a $1.5 million ecosystem prize. Currently, over 800 developers and 80 projects have registered to participate, and the event will feature industry leaders such as Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, Steve Yun, President of the TON Foundation, and Allen Ng, CEO of Everest Ventures Group (EVG), a well-known Web3 venture capital group in Hong Kong. Dr. Awesome Doge will also attend as a professional judge.
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