Share this article
TON Jumps as Foundation Says VC Firms Invested $400M in the Token
Investors include Sequoia Capital, Ribbit, Benchmark, Kingsway, CoinFund, according to a press release.
Updated Mar 20, 2025, 3:37 p.m. Published Mar 20, 2025, 3:26 p.m.
What to know:
- TON rose by around 8% before giving up some of the gains on Thursday.
- The Open Network Foundation said several venture capital firms invested $400 million in the token.
- TON is the native token of the TON blockchain originally launched by messaging app Telegram. The token's price is still down over 50% from its June peak as Telegram CEO Durov's arrest in France weighed on the project.
Toncoin (TON), the native token of the Telegram-adjacent TON blockchain, spiked on Thursday as ecosystem organization The Open Network Foundation said several venture capital firms invested $400 million in the token.
Investors include Sequoia Capital, Ribbit, Benchmark and Kingsway, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk. Vy Capital, Draper Associates and Libertus Capital, CoinFund, Hypersphere, SkyBridge, and Karatage also participated in the round.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
"These venture capital firms hold over $400 million worth of Toncoin, which is the native cryptocurrency of the TON Blockchain.It’s important to note that this is not a fundraising round. Instead, these VCs are placing their bets on the future success and utility of the TON Blockchain, its growing ecosystem, and its potential to provide real-world utility for crypto holdings, especially within Telegram," a Ton Foundation spokesperson told CoinDesk.
TON's price jumped over 8% above $3.8 immediately following the announcement before paring some of the gains. The token's price was 2% up over the past 24 hours.
The TON network was originally developed by messaging app Telegram, but continued as an independent operation due to regulatory concerns after the company settled a lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2020.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France in August as part of a complaint on Telegram's lack of moderation and cooperation with law enforcement. Durov regained access to his passport from authorities earlier this month. TON surged 20% on the news.
Digital asset investment firm Pantera Capital said in May it made its "largest investment ever" in TON, without disclosing the value of the investment. The token's price is down 54% since its June peak above $8.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Coinbase Sees Crypto Recovery Ahead as Liquidity Improves and Fed Rate Cut Odds Climb
The crypto exchange also took note of a so-called AI bubble that continues to go strong and a weaker U.S. dollar.
What to know:
- Coinbase Institutional is seeing a potential December recovery in crypto, citing improving liquidity and a shift in macroeconomic conditions that could favor risk assets like bitcoin.
- The firm's optimism is driven by rising odds of Federal Reserve rate cuts, with markets pricing in a 93% chance easing next week, and improving liquidity conditions.
- Several recent institutional developments, including Vanguard's crypto ETF policy reversal and Bank of America's greenlighting of crypto allocations, have contributed to bitcoin's rebound from recent lows.
Top Stories
