Amid CEOs’ Legal Troubles, Telegram’s TON Blockchain Surpasses 1 Billion Transactions

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is facing legal troubles in France. French authorities have granted Durov bail under strict conditions, including a payment of €5 million, reporting to police twice a week and staying within French borders.

The Paris prosecutor has said there are sufficient grounds to formally investigate Durov on several charges, including complicity in running an online platform that facilitates illegal transactions, the distribution of child pornography, drug trafficking, fraud, failure to cooperate with authorities, money laundering and providing cryptographic services to criminals.

Amid these challenges, it was reported that Telegram’s associated blockchain, The Open Network (TON), has reached a major milestone, surpassing 1 billion total transactions. This achievement follows a high-profile meme coin airdrop, which not only boosted activity but also caused two significant network outages. As of September 3, 2024, TON’s transaction volume has reached an impressive 1.04 billion, with half of these transactions occurring in the last three months.

TON’s rapid increase in transaction volume highlights the growing engagement on the platform, largely driven by its integration with Telegram’s nearly 1 billion global users. TON has introduced gasless transactions, making it even more attractive to users.

Recent developments, such as the introduction of the W5 smart wallet standard in collaboration with TON Keeper, have further fueled this growth. Despite the progress, the network experienced challenges during the airdrop of the DOGS meme coin between August 27th and 29th.

During this period, TON processed an astonishing 20 million transactions, with DOGS accounting for over 30% of the activity. The sudden increase led to transaction fees reaching a six-month high and likely contributed to TON’s highest recorded daily active user count.