TON records above $1B in native USDT as weekly users spikes

Tether (USDT) supply on the TON blockchain has crossed over $1B for the first time. In the past week, both the stablecoin supply and weekly active users reached a new peak. 

The Open Network (TON), the network tied to Telegram tap games, reached a peak of 5M active weekly users. In addition to the growing activity, TON now carries more than $1B in native Tether (USDT). 

The tokens available on TON are the maximum authorized supply. Based on different reports, the available tokens range between $668M and $729M. Transfer volumes for USDT range between $100M and $300M daily. Toncoin aims to become another environment for stablecoin usage, especially as a payment tool. The stablecoin expanded its presence on the TON blockchain despite concerns about illegal activities on the platform. 

USDT’s supply exploded faster in September, growing in one leap from around 700M tokens to 1.03B. In the past three months alone, the supply rose from 579M tokens. In addition to the native asset, TON carries around 4M bridged USDT, which expanded much more slowly. 

Since USDT launched as a native asset in April, a series of mints increased the liquidity in the TON ecosystem. The asset is used for micropayments, fees, and for decentralized trading. The issuing of new Toncoin took a long hiatus in August, around the time of the arrest of Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov. But after that, the new printing continued, supporting both user inflows and the price of Toncoin (TON). 

Native USDT to boost DeFi ecosystem on Toncoin

One of the roles of USDT is to boost the TON decentralized finance ecosystem. Value locked on TON had grown close to $1B but erased some of the gains. As of September, the TVL is at $402.96M. 

Most of the activity on the network depends on Ston.fi and DeDust, the two main DEX. The two DEX lock up $320M in total liquidity. Currently, the TON team has set aside 5M USDT for incentives to liquidity providers. The key pairs on the exchanges include TON and its staked forms against USDT. Part of the $5M incentive will also go toward staking TON on Tonstakers and Bemo.

After the DEX liquidity incentives, the TON Foundation may add new programs to boost other decentralized protocols. Toncoin is yet to develop its native lending, perpetual DEX and yield farming opportunities. 

Toncoin has also added liquid staking as an extra step in network security. The barrier to becoming a validator is high, at 300K TON tokens. For that reason, regular users are encouraged to stake TON and contribute to validators, in exchange for up to 3.69% annualized income. In exchange for their TON, they receive stTON, a liquid staking token, which can still be used for trading. 

As of September 2024, Tonstakers is the biggest LST protocol, with a 67% market share. The bigger the stake of each validator, the more rewards will be available for all participants. In total, the TON network distributes 50K new TON per day for block rewards. 

TON bounces from lows under $5

After the latest addition of more USDT liquidity, Toncoin continued its recovery above $5. TON traded at $5.60, retaining its usual range. In the past month, TON struggled to regain the $6 level, but for the past 12 months, the asset has retained most of its gains. 

TON open interest has slid to the $255M level, from above $280M in the past week. Long positions are still dominant, though they are also more often attacked. Long liquidations exceeded $321K on Binance, while only $169K in short positions were liquidated. 

TON rallied from August 8 onward, following a long-awaited Binance listing. Since then, the exchange took over 13% of all TON activity, with a relatively limited effect on the price. 

September was airdrop season for Toncoin, adding to the hype for TON. The Catizen airdrop from September 20 led to some disappointments, as the project distributed fewer tokens than expected and started selling a pass to gain the rest of the promised assets. The new CATI token crashed immediately after the start of trading, sinking to $0.85. 

Cryptopolitan reporting by Hristina Vasileva