Toncoin

Toncoin (TON) is the native cryptocurrency of The Open Network, a decentralised blockchain originally developed by the messaging app company Telegram. The Open Network is designed as a layer-1 blockchain with high scalability and efficiency to support millions of transactions per second, enabling decentralised applications (dApps), payments, and decentralised finance (DeFi) use cases. Toncoin operates using a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, specifically a variant called BPoS (Block-Proof of Stake), which helps achieve both security and scalability while minimising resource consumption. The network features sharding and the TON Virtual Machine (TVM), facilitating an effective and lightweight approach to blockchain scalability.

The Open Network was intended to be an accessible and easy-to-use blockchain with features such as multi-blockchain support and a dynamic sharding mechanism that aims to optimise network performance. Its native cryptocurrency, Toncoin, is used to facilitate transactions and participate in the network's governance and security.

Toncoin (TON) is primarily used for transaction fees, staking, and governance within The Open Network ecosystem. It acts as a utility token to pay for transactions on the network and is used in staking by validators and nominators, who secure the network in return for rewards in Toncoin. Validators lock Toncoin as a commitment, which impacts their ability to validate blocks and earn staking rewards.

Toncoin is integral to governance, where token holders participate in decision-making processes about protocol upgrades and changes through platforms like Ton.vote, managed by Orbs Network. The governance allows stakeholders to propose and vote on various upgrades and other network-related decisions. Toncoin is also used for other services like TON Proxy and TON DNS, along with enabling micropayments and facilitating various dApps on the network.