Toncoin Surges 60% As Durov Defends Telegram’s TON Push

Toncoin extended its rally on Wednesday, climbing to a new local high of $2.215 and bringing its three-day gain to more than 60%, as traders continued to price in Telegram’s deeper role in The Open Network. With the move, TON reaches it highest price since mid-November last year following fresh comments from Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who argued that Telegram becoming TON’s largest validator would strengthen decentralization rather than weaken it.

The rally marks TON’s sharpest short-term moves this year. Market data showed Toncoin trading near the $2.10–$2.20 zone on Wednesday, with Kraken listing a 24-hour high of $2.20 and OKX showing TON at $2.215 earlier in the session. The token remains well below its prior all-time high near $8.25, but the latest move has quickly reset near-term market structure after months of muted price action.

Durov’s latest post on X added a new layer to the market narrative. On May 5, he said Telegram becoming TON’s largest validator “strengthens decentralization.” He wrote: “Telegram becoming TON’s largest validator strengthens decentralization. It lets other major players join the validator pool without centralizing the network — with Telegram as the counterbalance. More and more TON gets locked in validation as everyone competes for 20%+ APR.”

That statement came shortly after Durov said on May 4 Telegram would replace the TON Foundation as the main driving force behind TON and become the network’s largest validator. In the same post, he said TON fees had dropped sixfold “to nearly zero,” while a new TON website, new developer tools and performance upgrades were expected within two to three weeks.

For the market, the timing matters. TON’s rally did not begin with a generic ecosystem update. It followed a direct Telegram-led roadmap: lower fees, stronger infrastructure, better developer tooling and a validator shift that ties the network more closely to the messaging platform’s distribution.

The key debate now is whether Telegram’s larger role makes TON more credible or more centralized. On paper, becoming the largest validator gives Telegram greater influence over the network’s security layer. In a proof-of-stake system, validators help maintain network stability and security by committing large amounts of the native token. TON’s own documentation describes validators and nominator pools as core parts of the network’s security model.

Thus, the optics are complicated. TON was originally created as the Telegram Open Network before later moving into a more independent foundation-led structure. Toncoin as the native cryptocurrency of The Open Network was originally developed in 2018 and later transitioned to the TON Foundation. Telegram now moving back into the central operational role represents a major shift in how the market is likely to assess TON’s governance and execution risk.

At press time, TON traded at $2.263.