March 1, 2025
TON Is Changing Telegram Forever – Here’s How (Interview with Ecosystem Lead at TON)
Join us as we dive into how TON is redefining the Telegram experience and reshaping the future of blockchain technology.
Learn how TON’s unique integration with Telegram is creating unparalleled user experiences, driving innovation in decentralized applications, and transforming how we think about social and financial networks.
Discover what makes TON a game-changer and why it’s capturing the attention of developers, users, and the entire Web3 community.
🎙️ THE ChainStories Podcast – powered by Dropout Capital and the Blockchain Education Network!
🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/ChainStoriesPod
👤 Guest on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alena-shmalko/
🎙️ Host on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cryptoniooo/
-----------------------
What is BEN?
The Blockchain Education Network (BEN) is the largest and longest-running network of blockchain students, professors, and alumni around the world! We are on a journey to spur blockchain adoption by empowering our leaders to bring blockchain to their communities!
https://learn.blockchainedu.org/
-----------------------
Thank you for listening!
Want To Start Your Own Podcast? We Use BuzzSprout:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/
WEBVTT
00:00:00.530 --> 00:00:07.040
Welcome to the Chain Stories podcast, the podcast that celebrates disruptors who defy convention.
00:00:07.490 --> 00:00:14.650
Here, we dive into the bold stories of trailblazers who turned audacious ideas into billion dollar ventures.
00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:21.030
welcome everyone to another ChainStories podcast.
00:00:21.381 --> 00:00:25.221
Today I have a very special guest directly from TON Foundation.
00:00:25.370 --> 00:00:27.850
I have Alena that joined us directly from Dubai.
00:00:27.861 --> 00:00:29.341
How are you doing today, Alena?
00:00:29.721 --> 00:00:30.800
Great, great Tony.
00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:32.131
Thank you very much for having me.
00:00:32.530 --> 00:00:41.240
I think you have a very interesting background and I would like to start by diving into this before we dive into your work in the day operations at TON.
00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:53.151
I know you started your career in working in diplomacy, and I'm very curious to hear about how did you start and how did you transition into the digital assets space and your day to day work now?
00:00:53.551 --> 00:00:54.091
Yeah, sure.
00:00:54.091 --> 00:00:58.881
This is a very interesting way to start a conversation with me because very few people know my background.
00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:04.710
So I never got to actually working in the industry, probably luckily, I would say luckily.
00:01:05.021 --> 00:01:10.790
But I did finish my both bachelor's and master's degree in diplomacy and international relations.
00:01:10.911 --> 00:01:17.460
My master's degree was mostly about like European studies, European governance, including both political and economic studies.
00:01:17.820 --> 00:01:24.180
But yeah, that was the original plan to become a diplomat, to probably work for some international organization.
00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:28.771
That was always a dream, but then something, something changed, something shifted.
00:01:29.090 --> 00:01:33.281
I always knew that I'm very keen on digital technologies in general.
00:01:33.540 --> 00:01:38.581
And even within my studies, when I probably started realizing this not something I will be doing in the future.
00:01:38.911 --> 00:01:46.650
I started focusing really much on everything that regarded digital new technologies like AI, blockchain, whatever.
00:01:46.950 --> 00:01:55.131
And every essay, every paperwork that I needed to do at uni that would be necessarily about some kind of interesting new technology.
00:01:55.540 --> 00:02:05.141
And especially in Italy, where I did my master's degree, it was a very open space for exploring, for doing research and development and just learning new things.
00:02:05.141 --> 00:02:10.450
So during my last two years at uni, everything was about blockchain for me.
00:02:10.450 --> 00:02:23.751
So I did a lot of studies from the academic standpoint, and then I finally joined the industry from the startup standpoint, cause I was involved in a number of startups and then even founded my own accelerator for early stage founders of Web3 startups.
00:02:23.760 --> 00:02:27.355
So, yeah, this is some kind of introduction.
00:02:27.756 --> 00:02:28.395
Fascinating.
00:02:28.395 --> 00:02:32.586
So at the time you're in uni and everyone's talking probably about blockchain.
00:02:32.616 --> 00:02:37.006
Maybe it was the peak of the bull market and you start diving into this.
00:02:37.406 --> 00:02:38.145
Yeah, exactly.
00:02:38.145 --> 00:02:40.885
And then there was this shift towards the bear market as well.
00:02:40.885 --> 00:02:49.711
And then, all those professors that were talking about blockchain at that time, they looked as really, stars to everyone, probably except for me.
00:02:49.721 --> 00:02:55.411
Cause, I knew that those things that they were saying were very basic and very evident and obvious, right?
00:02:55.700 --> 00:02:57.151
And they didn't know a lot of stuff.
00:02:57.510 --> 00:03:01.431
But still it was a good first introductory step probably for many people.
00:03:01.830 --> 00:03:02.860
But yeah, that was fun.
00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:10.455
And then I actually, my first like practical experience was a startup, at the intersection of real estate and tokenization.
00:03:10.725 --> 00:03:16.496
So we would trying to build a platform for investment in tokenized real estate in the US.
00:03:16.885 --> 00:03:19.306
Then we shifted to the Dubai market actually.
00:03:19.536 --> 00:03:25.955
I did a lot of research on the Dubai market, which actually helped me find an apartment here when we decided to move into Dubai.
00:03:25.966 --> 00:03:30.806
So that was very fun to find all those contacts that I had got back then.
00:03:31.205 --> 00:03:37.506
Probably more fintech, so not pure Web3 and crypto but still with some elements of crypto.
00:03:37.836 --> 00:03:48.406
And then there's accelerator that actually got me in touch with some people from TON as well, because they came to, help founders, choose their ecosystem and tell people more about TON.
00:03:48.616 --> 00:03:53.376
It was back in September of last year, 2023.
00:03:53.691 --> 00:03:58.080
Right after the announcement of this exclusive, partnership between TON and Telegram.
00:03:58.100 --> 00:04:05.741
So it was really the right moment to learn about TON, about the whole ecosystem of Telegram mini apps and how they can now operate on blockchain.
00:04:06.140 --> 00:04:11.170
And so this is how I met some people from the BD team of TON Foundation.
00:04:11.200 --> 00:04:22.980
And then I figured out that they needed a person who would, just curate projects in the ecosystem and they're responsible for different support programs and incentive programs that we launched from the foundation side.
00:04:22.980 --> 00:04:30.721
And then I'm luckily, now I say luckily, compared to what I was saying about uni, I joined the team and really enjoy my time there.
00:04:31.161 --> 00:04:36.940
And going back to that moment in uni, did you felt and clicked in your mind, this technology is going to completely change the world?
00:04:37.141 --> 00:04:39.971
I have to go on and pursue this as a career.
00:04:40.370 --> 00:04:43.180
Or it was maybe I'll do this and see where it goes.
00:04:43.581 --> 00:04:44.071
Totally.
00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:51.300
No, I wasn't really considering it as a serious career because everything was so confusing back then.
00:04:51.331 --> 00:04:54.420
I really didn't know what exactly I want to focus on.
00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:59.060
And actually when I joined TON, I finally felt that I'm really in the right place.
00:04:59.081 --> 00:05:06.714
I think that was the only time, like after uni, when I really felt it because I actually, I was explorig a lot.
00:05:06.714 --> 00:05:10.930
I'm a very open and enthusiastic person as such, I'm very curious, naturally curious.
00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:13.160
So I do a lot of things at the same time.
00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:15.319
I keep on exploring, keep on learning.
00:05:15.329 --> 00:05:26.550
And this becomes a problem at a certain point because you understand that you like a lot of things and you don't really know and understand what to focus on, what would give you the best result or the most joy just in general.
00:05:26.870 --> 00:05:31.800
And I was lucky enough to finally have found it after so many years of seeking.
00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:40.189
I definitely did know that like blockchain and crypto would change the way we live, just generally the world we live in.
00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:46.209
But I didn't really consider it as like properly direct career direction yet back then.
00:05:46.610 --> 00:05:47.129
Makes sense.
00:05:47.129 --> 00:05:51.019
I think it was something that you felt as you went along and you found the TON family.
00:05:51.420 --> 00:06:01.009
Going to the point when you started this accelerator, what was the main problem that founders were coming in and when joining this accelerator, was it funding?
00:06:01.009 --> 00:06:03.930
Was it not knowing what chain to build on?
00:06:03.930 --> 00:06:09.089
Was the tech stack and how did TON was able to solve this problem or be the right fit?
00:06:09.290 --> 00:06:32.370
So actually I was invited to join the team by my ex co founders, so it was originally the idea to resolve this entire set range of problems for early stage founders where they don't know where to get funding from, how to really test the hypothesis fast, just all those very basic problems for any like Web2 or Web3 founder.
00:06:32.589 --> 00:06:33.939
It's just all the same.
00:06:34.170 --> 00:06:38.836
The difference in Web3 is that, you can also pick an ecosystem, right?
00:06:39.026 --> 00:06:42.786
And expect some additional support from the ecosystem you want to build.
00:06:42.875 --> 00:06:51.425
And so I saw a lot of grant hunting, just those people who are applying to every single grant program they see.
00:06:51.696 --> 00:06:53.605
I didn't really like that from the very beginning.
00:06:53.605 --> 00:06:59.985
I was really surprised that people are so fast to change their direction and they're not really loyal to any ecosystem in particular.
00:06:59.985 --> 00:07:12.245
And in turn, we cherish it really much that people they stay, they stick and they make this very well weighted, well considered choice of building on TON because it's an entire different mindset.
00:07:12.276 --> 00:07:15.706
It's like completely different language, right?
00:07:15.716 --> 00:07:17.115
Completely different tech stack.
00:07:17.156 --> 00:07:22.266
And you need to make this decision seriously that, yes, I'm all in with TON.
00:07:22.435 --> 00:07:31.315
And now if you want to build a Telgram Mini app, since recently, you can do it only on TON if you want to build a Web3 app, but we can talk about it separately.
00:07:31.495 --> 00:07:35.956
So it's really a very important decision in your journey as a Web3 founder, right?
00:07:36.336 --> 00:07:41.360
And we were working with and we were all different chains, like probably only Solana was not there yet.
00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:52.341
But then when I already left the project to join the TON ecosystem, my ex co founders they actually launched a second bootcamp, second cohort with Solana only exclusively.
00:07:52.742 --> 00:07:55.841
Yeah, so we're not really focusing on any particular chain.
00:07:56.151 --> 00:07:59.872
And those people, they weren't really loyal, like none of them were loyal.
00:08:00.091 --> 00:08:08.742
They were just going where anyone waited for them when anyone expected them and was ready to provide some, first of all financial help.
00:08:08.992 --> 00:08:18.221
But it was really fun and it was, a very precious experience for me of spending 30 days without any weekend, without any rest.
00:08:18.442 --> 00:08:21.891
With all those 20 teams that joined our accelerator.
00:08:22.122 --> 00:08:24.482
We basically lived together in a hotel.
00:08:24.482 --> 00:08:26.711
We had those sessions online and offline.
00:08:26.711 --> 00:08:30.112
And I really immersed myself into the life of a founder.
00:08:30.451 --> 00:08:35.341
The conclusion I made for myself was that I would never ever become a founder of a startup myself.
00:08:35.741 --> 00:08:38.981
I think it was also a very important inclusion to draw for me.
00:08:39.282 --> 00:08:45.981
But yeah, I do think that we help those founders a lot in terms of connections, in terms of clarifying their vision.
00:08:46.241 --> 00:08:49.121
A lot of them made collaborations between themselves.
00:08:49.322 --> 00:08:54.491
A lot of them shifted their idea completely, like pivoted into something completely different.
00:08:54.892 --> 00:09:06.032
So it's really all about, connections and just repeating your idea multiple times to many different people, especially when you're early stage, getting a lot of feedback, just practicing like that was very important.
00:09:06.361 --> 00:09:11.961
And with all that knowledge and practical experience, I joined TON a couple of months after.
00:09:12.361 --> 00:09:13.451
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense.
00:09:13.701 --> 00:09:17.892
You mentioned in order to go to TON, it's a commitment.
00:09:17.971 --> 00:09:19.672
It's a different tech stack.
00:09:19.672 --> 00:09:21.272
It's a different set of applications.
00:09:21.672 --> 00:09:28.831
Diving into TON, why should I as a founder, as a builder, go into TON instead of Solana?
00:09:29.231 --> 00:09:33.772
I do know there's over almost a billion users on Ton and that's super exciting.
00:09:34.172 --> 00:09:42.562
What is what do you think, what makes you feel really excited to be like, okay I'm part of this much bigger ecosystem than maybe others.
00:09:42.562 --> 00:09:43.562
And Mr.
00:09:43.562 --> 00:09:47.481
Founder, you should come in and build here and commit yourself day and night to this.
00:09:47.881 --> 00:09:55.922
Yeah, TON obviously doesn't have 1 billion users yet, unfortunately, it's Telgram that almost has that one bill monthly active users.
00:09:55.922 --> 00:09:58.412
And those are just simple Web2 users yet.
00:09:58.812 --> 00:10:03.432
And indeed our aim is to onboard, all that large audience into Web3.
00:10:03.761 --> 00:10:08.461
I keep on repeating that and we do have some good results already, right?
00:10:08.511 --> 00:10:20.772
There's been this large trend for tap to earn, probably your followers, your audience heard about such apps as NotCoin or, Dogs or Blum, YesCoin, et cetera, Major as well.
00:10:21.062 --> 00:10:34.221
All those apps, those are very simple onboarding games where you basically needed to perform super easy actions like tapping on a coin, performing some simple social tasks like follow or tweet.
00:10:34.272 --> 00:10:39.572
And then those people were very progressively and gradually onboarded into crypto.
00:10:39.902 --> 00:10:42.532
They all received airdrops of course, from the project.
00:10:42.532 --> 00:10:48.875
And then some on chain tasks were being added, progressively to the app itself, to do the mini apps.
00:10:48.976 --> 00:10:55.397
And so that was really a large trend, that is now silent, which was very much expected.
00:10:55.667 --> 00:10:56.956
Nothing can live forever.
00:10:57.246 --> 00:10:58.697
We just need new trends to come.
00:10:58.886 --> 00:11:16.366
But what really helps TON stand out is obviously, the potential for mass adoption, because TON is the only chain that you can use if you want to build for Telegram users, you can build a Telegram mini app that would be a part of the interface of the messenger, right?
00:11:16.366 --> 00:11:20.086
It's just a separate app that you open directly from Telegram.
00:11:20.136 --> 00:11:23.246
You don't need to leave our favorite messenger anymore.
00:11:23.256 --> 00:11:25.442
You can do whatever you want inside.
00:11:25.692 --> 00:11:31.902
And so this concept of a super app, which is super popular in Asia, everyone knows WeChat and their success.
00:11:32.302 --> 00:11:43.162
So Pavel Durov is trying to do exactly that, but on Web3 rails, and they picked TON for obvious reasons, as an exclusive partner for the Web3 bots.
00:11:43.591 --> 00:11:52.892
Which means that developers, even though learning our languages is quite hard, especially if you were coding on Solidity or Rust before, they need to make this choice.
00:11:52.902 --> 00:12:03.027
They need to learn the languages and they need to come build the Telegram mini app and add some on chain functionality there if they want to tap into that potential for mass adoption, right?
00:12:03.267 --> 00:12:13.116
So there is no clear recipe, obviously, there is no clear set of steps that you need to do to onboard masses into your crypto app on Telegram.
00:12:13.307 --> 00:12:22.777
Well, there are some, and those tap to earn apps they helped us understand that, for example, you need a referral system, you need to make the sequence of actions in the app very simple.
00:12:22.787 --> 00:12:24.077
As simple as you can.
00:12:24.477 --> 00:12:31.768
So trying to leverage this social thought, social nature, which would then turn into SocialFi of Telegram.
00:12:32.168 --> 00:12:35.798
And so there is no successful recipe, a unique one.
00:12:36.052 --> 00:12:40.993
But we do have some best practices of those teams that have been building in the ecosystem for a while.
00:12:41.373 --> 00:12:47.082
So it's there, but still we are in the process of discovery of those new cases.
00:12:47.383 --> 00:13:05.023
And what is different from Solana, for example, which has shown enormous results in terms of trading volume, especially recently, after the launch of Trump and before that the concept of pump fun as such, tables turned really, because if you want to launch a meme coin, you'd probably want to do it on Solana now.
00:13:05.293 --> 00:13:08.462
So TON is not really about trading per se.
00:13:08.863 --> 00:13:16.572
It's more about consumer facing apps with different social features, utility apps, games, right?
00:13:16.572 --> 00:13:25.932
So something that is aimed at masses rather than a niche group of people that just wants to speculate to earn some money on trading.
00:13:26.312 --> 00:13:30.322
But there are some good meme pads on TON, by the way, with social features.
00:13:30.332 --> 00:13:35.702
If anyone wants to explore, I would really recommend going to for example, Blum or Hot Wallet.
00:13:36.102 --> 00:13:39.153
Or other apps as well, which have been doing a really great job.
00:13:39.552 --> 00:13:46.753
So I would say that TON is, for those who want to try to onboard a lot of people at once, right?
00:13:46.793 --> 00:13:47.732
Web2 people.
00:13:48.052 --> 00:13:59.192
And those teams, they need to think of really cool and useful and sustainable use cases, through which they want to bring those people into crypto and make them stay.
00:13:59.592 --> 00:14:05.102
It's much easier on Telegram because you don't need to think about the distribution because the audience is there.
00:14:05.503 --> 00:14:08.442
Of course you would need some marketing channels like Telegram ads.
00:14:08.452 --> 00:14:12.602
You will need to develop and grow your Telegram community, your Telegram chat.
00:14:12.712 --> 00:14:16.743
You can use some external marketing resources, of course, different channels.
00:14:17.143 --> 00:14:22.982
Those people are there that almost 1 billion people is there waiting to be on board into crypto.
00:14:23.383 --> 00:14:27.003
I think it's fascinating because you can experiment with different use cases.
00:14:27.003 --> 00:14:39.062
You can try to replicate something that already exists on other chains, which doesn't really work to be honest, but you can still try, but more creating something new, creating something that has not been tested yet.
00:14:39.462 --> 00:14:40.182
Yeah, absolutely.
00:14:40.182 --> 00:14:42.562
I actually experienced launching a meme coin on TON.
00:14:43.113 --> 00:14:47.942
It was so easy and we could just apply it on the chat in three clicks.
00:14:48.113 --> 00:14:54.743
And even the UX was so clear and intuitive that I just didn't understand why don't more people do this?
00:14:54.773 --> 00:15:03.413
Why did pump.fun became so popular when there's so many friction, so many hurdles that a user has to jump, like you can't even do it on mobile.
00:15:03.812 --> 00:15:09.562
And here on TON, I could simply just click three times and I launched like a meme coin, but I think that was fascinating.
00:15:09.572 --> 00:15:13.253
I'm still super bullish on the ecosystem and the ease of deploying.
00:15:13.253 --> 00:15:16.572
And for our listeners, I think everyone should really try and interact.
00:15:16.972 --> 00:15:17.243
Yeah.
00:15:17.283 --> 00:15:20.092
Do you remember the name of the app, by the way, through which you launched it?
00:15:20.123 --> 00:15:21.123
It was a meme pad, right?
00:15:21.523 --> 00:15:21.822
Yeah.
00:15:21.822 --> 00:15:24.259
I believe it was gas.pump.
00:15:24.690 --> 00:15:27.149
Yeah that was the very first meme pad on TON.
00:15:27.169 --> 00:15:30.409
They launched like, I think a month after the original pump fun.
00:15:30.779 --> 00:15:31.059
Yeah.
00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:32.080
Look, exactly.
00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:34.029
This is about the user experience.
00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:37.129
So you don't need to leave Telegram at all.
00:15:37.254 --> 00:15:43.715
You can just get an invite link from your friend or see some ad or see a post in your favorite telegram community.
00:15:43.985 --> 00:15:47.325
You can click on that sharing link and join, even the team.
00:15:47.325 --> 00:15:56.014
So there are a lot of SocialFi trading apps right now on TON and Telegram, where you can, for example, join a Cabal and trade together.
00:15:56.315 --> 00:16:02.595
So a lot of things really, but yeah, answering your question, like why do not so many people come yet?
00:16:02.934 --> 00:16:10.225
It's probably because we don't really have this trading culture on TON because once again, it's more about Web2 users and they don't care about memes.
00:16:10.254 --> 00:16:14.072
And they can try, and for example, I saw the stats a couple of days ago.
00:16:14.381 --> 00:16:19.831
Like 50 percent of those users that bought Trump through Moonshot were new users, right?
00:16:20.532 --> 00:16:23.802
50%, which is a very great number, right?
00:16:23.802 --> 00:16:26.841
So a lot of newbies came, but now they're not active on the chain.
00:16:26.841 --> 00:16:28.172
They don't know what to do.
00:16:28.572 --> 00:16:30.892
There was just a very popular story.
00:16:30.902 --> 00:16:32.351
It was really, it was hype.
00:16:32.542 --> 00:16:34.601
But we need to onboard those people.
00:16:34.601 --> 00:16:39.822
Web2 users are not so excited about meme coins as those Solana traders.
00:16:39.822 --> 00:16:40.971
And there are a lot of them.
00:16:41.312 --> 00:16:43.851
And they just stay with Solana and it's fine.
00:16:43.961 --> 00:16:47.581
Like we just have our own path, we just have our own strategy.
00:16:47.782 --> 00:16:59.001
And going back to last year, when was this frenzy about tap to earn, was this something that your team was seeing coming at all or you guys are completely like, Whoa, this just happened.
00:16:59.402 --> 00:17:06.801
No, look, of course, like my colleagues knew and those who were in touch with the NotCoin team, of course, cause they also got some support from TON foundation as well.
00:17:07.061 --> 00:17:09.342
But I literally just joined the ecosystem.
00:17:09.342 --> 00:17:10.791
I joined last November.
00:17:11.192 --> 00:17:13.932
And Notcoin launched in December already.
00:17:14.112 --> 00:17:17.551
And the active mining phase started in January of last year.
00:17:17.842 --> 00:17:36.106
And when I met Sasha for the first time, the founder of Notcoin, and then multiple very cool games on TON further on, we were just talking about some serious stuff, like educational programs, educational apps for TON users, how to onboard them, different collaborations with existing, for example, DeFi apps.
00:17:36.507 --> 00:17:43.247
And he was like, yeah, and then we will launch a new app where you would just be clicking on a coin on the screen.
00:17:43.517 --> 00:17:44.426
And I was like, what?
00:17:44.826 --> 00:17:45.936
Is it really your plan?
00:17:45.997 --> 00:17:52.126
Maybe we should talk about something else, something more serious and something more substantial, right?
00:17:52.136 --> 00:17:53.227
And then they launched it.
00:17:53.247 --> 00:17:58.817
And I understood that I was completely wrong because that thing went really viral.
00:17:59.217 --> 00:18:00.176
That's fascinating.
00:18:00.176 --> 00:18:04.576
Sometimes, we don't see things coming in angle and completely surprises.
00:18:04.576 --> 00:18:15.962
And there's previous podcasts where for example, the founder of Virtuals Jansen was totally unexpecting and the team and virtuals took off as the AI agent narrative in a week.
00:18:16.363 --> 00:18:24.823
I do think it's fascinating how this space can shift gears so fast and users interacting with things that we never really expected.
00:18:25.222 --> 00:18:31.653
And now after all those users that came in and tapped to earn, what are those users?
00:18:31.653 --> 00:18:34.383
I know it was over 300 million users at certain points.
00:18:34.722 --> 00:18:35.843
What are they demanding now?
00:18:35.843 --> 00:18:37.682
Do they still are onboarding into crypto?
00:18:37.682 --> 00:18:45.722
They are on telegram and on the TON ecosystem, in a sense, where do you think the market is going and what are the plans for the future?
00:18:46.123 --> 00:18:54.333
Oh yeah, of course it was obvious once again, from not the very beginning, but from a certain point that there were a lot of bots among those users.
00:18:54.732 --> 00:18:57.593
But look, airdrop farmers are everywhere.
00:18:57.593 --> 00:19:02.692
We can't really deny it in any ecosystem, any large projects, especially DeFi.
00:19:03.093 --> 00:19:05.542
All those farmers are everywhere, but still.
00:19:05.682 --> 00:19:08.242
So what are these people doing now?
00:19:08.282 --> 00:19:09.313
That's a good question.
00:19:09.363 --> 00:19:11.442
I would love to have an answer to that as well.
00:19:11.593 --> 00:19:26.282
According to statistics, of course, the conversion rate turned out to be quite low, from that tap to earn on the screen into an on chain user even though, Notcoin, as the first very successful case showed good results in terms of conversion.
00:19:26.282 --> 00:19:30.353
So I think, still have around 2 million on chain token holders.
00:19:30.682 --> 00:19:34.423
The peak was about 2.5 mil or 2.8 mil, I don't remember.
00:19:34.442 --> 00:19:40.212
And then DOGS another successful meme, they reached even, I think more than 5 million.
00:19:40.212 --> 00:19:45.492
At a certain point it was really the largest meme one in crypto by hold account.
00:19:45.893 --> 00:19:51.313
But this is just holding the token, which is already a good step, but still those people need to be active on chain.
00:19:51.313 --> 00:19:58.063
So for that, we're working on a whole range of interesting use cases from multiple different standpoints.
00:19:58.272 --> 00:20:04.663
The ecosystem in general, it's obviously first of all about those independent teams that are building inside the eco.
00:20:04.942 --> 00:20:09.212
It's us from the foundation side trying to support them as much as we can.
00:20:09.252 --> 00:20:14.903
Also trying to navigate all those trends because it's obviously not us who set the trend, right?
00:20:14.952 --> 00:20:19.732
And I think no foundation in the world, Web3 foundation can really set the trend.
00:20:19.732 --> 00:20:22.173
It's something organic, something that just pops up.
00:20:22.573 --> 00:20:23.613
And this is it.
00:20:23.893 --> 00:20:29.813
Our role is more supportive, let's say, like facilitating the growth in general.
00:20:30.182 --> 00:20:40.692
And what we're seeing now and then Telegram, of course, through launching some new functionality of the messenger itself, they obviously drive attention and drive trends as well.
00:20:41.093 --> 00:20:50.173
So what we've seen recently, for example is the launch of Telegram gifts, that has really been the hype in the ecosystem for a couple of not really weeks, even before that.
00:20:50.343 --> 00:21:06.972
They were first launched off chain, you could buy them for Telegram stars, Telegram starts to drop some exclusive collections with limited supply and people understood that, okay, we probably need to draw more attention to that and they did, and the volumes were really great.
00:21:07.242 --> 00:21:17.299
So it was almost a million dollars in volume off chain on one single marketplace on TON, which was, yeah, that team was fast enough to create this secondary marketplace.
00:21:17.434 --> 00:21:18.835
place for telegram gifts.
00:21:19.234 --> 00:21:25.275
And now for only a couple of days, some of those gifts are already on chain and they exist as NFTs.
00:21:25.664 --> 00:21:34.420
So imagine you got the gift from a friend on telegram, I don't know, for your birthday, for example, I would send some birthday cakes to my friends as Telegram gifts.
00:21:34.819 --> 00:21:45.670
And then they can convert those gifts into NFTs and trade them on chain and probably, get some exclusive access in some games, in some cool mini apps inside Telegram.
00:21:45.970 --> 00:21:49.630
So those gifts will probably have some interesting utility.
00:21:49.950 --> 00:21:53.690
And there are already some use cases popping up in the ecosystem.
00:00:00.530 --> 00:00:07.040
Welcome to the Chain Stories podcast, the podcast that celebrates disruptors who defy convention.
00:00:07.490 --> 00:00:14.650
Here, we dive into the bold stories of trailblazers who turned audacious ideas into billion dollar ventures.
00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:21.030
00:00:21.381 --> 00:00:25.221
00:00:25.370 --> 00:00:27.850
00:00:27.861 --> 00:00:29.341
00:00:29.721 --> 00:00:30.800
00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:32.131
00:00:32.530 --> 00:00:41.240
00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:53.151
00:00:53.551 --> 00:00:54.091
00:00:54.091 --> 00:00:58.881
00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:04.710
00:01:05.021 --> 00:01:10.790
00:01:10.911 --> 00:01:17.460
00:01:17.820 --> 00:01:24.180
00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:28.771
00:01:29.090 --> 00:01:33.281
00:01:33.540 --> 00:01:38.581
00:01:38.911 --> 00:01:46.650
00:01:46.950 --> 00:01:55.131
00:01:55.540 --> 00:02:05.141
00:02:05.141 --> 00:02:10.450
00:02:10.450 --> 00:02:23.751
00:02:23.760 --> 00:02:27.355
00:02:27.756 --> 00:02:28.395
00:02:28.395 --> 00:02:32.586
00:02:32.616 --> 00:02:37.006
00:02:37.406 --> 00:02:38.145
00:02:38.145 --> 00:02:40.885
00:02:40.885 --> 00:02:49.711
00:02:49.721 --> 00:02:55.411
00:02:55.700 --> 00:02:57.151
00:02:57.510 --> 00:03:01.431
00:03:01.830 --> 00:03:02.860
00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:10.455
00:03:10.725 --> 00:03:16.496
00:03:16.885 --> 00:03:19.306
00:03:19.536 --> 00:03:25.955
00:03:25.966 --> 00:03:30.806
00:03:31.205 --> 00:03:37.506
00:03:37.836 --> 00:03:48.406
00:03:48.616 --> 00:03:53.376
00:03:53.691 --> 00:03:58.080
00:03:58.100 --> 00:04:05.741
00:04:06.140 --> 00:04:11.170
00:04:11.200 --> 00:04:22.980
00:04:22.980 --> 00:04:30.721
00:04:31.161 --> 00:04:36.940
00:04:37.141 --> 00:04:39.971
00:04:40.370 --> 00:04:43.180
00:04:43.581 --> 00:04:44.071
00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:51.300
00:04:51.331 --> 00:04:54.420
00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:59.060
00:04:59.081 --> 00:05:06.714
00:05:06.714 --> 00:05:10.930
00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:13.160
00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:15.319
00:05:15.329 --> 00:05:26.550
00:05:26.870 --> 00:05:31.800
00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:40.189
00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:46.209
00:05:46.610 --> 00:05:47.129
00:05:47.129 --> 00:05:51.019
00:05:51.420 --> 00:06:01.009
00:06:01.009 --> 00:06:03.930
00:06:03.930 --> 00:06:09.089
00:06:09.290 --> 00:06:32.370
00:06:32.589 --> 00:06:33.939
00:06:34.170 --> 00:06:38.836
00:06:39.026 --> 00:06:42.786
00:06:42.875 --> 00:06:51.425
00:06:51.696 --> 00:06:53.605
00:06:53.605 --> 00:06:59.985
00:06:59.985 --> 00:07:12.245
00:07:12.276 --> 00:07:15.706
00:07:15.716 --> 00:07:17.115
00:07:17.156 --> 00:07:22.266
00:07:22.435 --> 00:07:31.315
00:07:31.495 --> 00:07:35.956
00:07:36.336 --> 00:07:41.360
00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:52.341
00:07:52.742 --> 00:07:55.841
00:07:56.151 --> 00:07:59.872
00:08:00.091 --> 00:08:08.742
00:08:08.992 --> 00:08:18.221
00:08:18.442 --> 00:08:21.891
00:08:22.122 --> 00:08:24.482
00:08:24.482 --> 00:08:26.711
00:08:26.711 --> 00:08:30.112
00:08:30.451 --> 00:08:35.341
00:08:35.741 --> 00:08:38.981
00:08:39.282 --> 00:08:45.981
00:08:46.241 --> 00:08:49.121
00:08:49.322 --> 00:08:54.491
00:08:54.892 --> 00:09:06.032
00:09:06.361 --> 00:09:11.961
00:09:12.361 --> 00:09:13.451
00:09:13.701 --> 00:09:17.892
00:09:17.971 --> 00:09:19.672
00:09:19.672 --> 00:09:21.272
00:09:21.672 --> 00:09:28.831
00:09:29.231 --> 00:09:33.772
00:09:34.172 --> 00:09:42.562
00:09:42.562 --> 00:09:43.562
00:09:43.562 --> 00:09:47.481
00:09:47.881 --> 00:09:55.922
00:09:55.922 --> 00:09:58.412
00:09:58.812 --> 00:10:03.432
00:10:03.761 --> 00:10:08.461
00:10:08.511 --> 00:10:20.772
00:10:21.062 --> 00:10:34.221
00:10:34.272 --> 00:10:39.572
00:10:39.902 --> 00:10:42.532
00:10:42.532 --> 00:10:48.875
00:10:48.976 --> 00:10:55.397
00:10:55.667 --> 00:10:56.956
00:10:57.246 --> 00:10:58.697
00:10:58.886 --> 00:11:16.366
00:11:16.366 --> 00:11:20.086
00:11:20.136 --> 00:11:23.246
00:11:23.256 --> 00:11:25.442
00:11:25.692 --> 00:11:31.902
00:11:32.302 --> 00:11:43.162
00:11:43.591 --> 00:11:52.892
00:11:52.902 --> 00:12:03.027
00:12:03.267 --> 00:12:13.116
00:12:13.307 --> 00:12:22.777
00:12:22.787 --> 00:12:24.077
00:12:24.477 --> 00:12:31.768
00:12:32.168 --> 00:12:35.798
00:12:36.052 --> 00:12:40.993
00:12:41.373 --> 00:12:47.082
00:12:47.383 --> 00:13:05.023
00:13:05.293 --> 00:13:08.462
00:13:08.863 --> 00:13:16.572
00:13:16.572 --> 00:13:25.932
00:13:26.312 --> 00:13:30.322
00:13:30.332 --> 00:13:35.702
00:13:36.102 --> 00:13:39.153
00:13:39.552 --> 00:13:46.753
00:13:46.793 --> 00:13:47.732
00:13:48.052 --> 00:13:59.192
00:13:59.592 --> 00:14:05.102
00:14:05.503 --> 00:14:08.442
00:14:08.452 --> 00:14:12.602
00:14:12.712 --> 00:14:16.743
00:14:17.143 --> 00:14:22.982
00:14:23.383 --> 00:14:27.003
00:14:27.003 --> 00:14:39.062
00:14:39.462 --> 00:14:40.182
00:14:40.182 --> 00:14:42.562
00:14:43.113 --> 00:14:47.942
00:14:48.113 --> 00:14:54.743
00:14:54.773 --> 00:15:03.413
00:15:03.812 --> 00:15:09.562
00:15:09.572 --> 00:15:13.253
00:15:13.253 --> 00:15:16.572
00:15:16.972 --> 00:15:17.243
00:15:17.283 --> 00:15:20.092
00:15:20.123 --> 00:15:21.123
00:15:21.523 --> 00:15:21.822
00:15:21.822 --> 00:15:24.259
00:15:24.690 --> 00:15:27.149
00:15:27.169 --> 00:15:30.409
00:15:30.779 --> 00:15:31.059
00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:32.080
00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:34.029
00:15:34.039 --> 00:15:37.129
00:15:37.254 --> 00:15:43.715
00:15:43.985 --> 00:15:47.325
00:15:47.325 --> 00:15:56.014
00:15:56.315 --> 00:16:02.595
00:16:02.934 --> 00:16:10.225
00:16:10.254 --> 00:16:14.072
00:16:14.381 --> 00:16:19.831
00:16:20.532 --> 00:16:23.802
00:16:23.802 --> 00:16:26.841
00:16:26.841 --> 00:16:28.172
00:16:28.572 --> 00:16:30.892
00:16:30.902 --> 00:16:32.351
00:16:32.542 --> 00:16:34.601
00:16:34.601 --> 00:16:39.822
00:16:39.822 --> 00:16:40.971
00:16:41.312 --> 00:16:43.851
00:16:43.961 --> 00:16:47.581
00:16:47.782 --> 00:16:59.001
00:16:59.402 --> 00:17:06.801
00:17:07.061 --> 00:17:09.342
00:17:09.342 --> 00:17:10.791
00:17:11.192 --> 00:17:13.932
00:17:14.112 --> 00:17:17.551
00:17:17.842 --> 00:17:36.106
00:17:36.507 --> 00:17:43.247
00:17:43.517 --> 00:17:44.426
00:17:44.826 --> 00:17:45.936
00:17:45.997 --> 00:17:52.126
00:17:52.136 --> 00:17:53.227
00:17:53.247 --> 00:17:58.817
00:17:59.217 --> 00:18:00.176
00:18:00.176 --> 00:18:04.576
00:18:04.576 --> 00:18:15.962
00:18:16.363 --> 00:18:24.823
00:18:25.222 --> 00:18:31.653
00:18:31.653 --> 00:18:34.383
00:18:34.722 --> 00:18:35.843
00:18:35.843 --> 00:18:37.682
00:18:37.682 --> 00:18:45.722
00:18:46.123 --> 00:18:54.333
00:18:54.732 --> 00:18:57.593
00:18:57.593 --> 00:19:02.692
00:19:03.093 --> 00:19:05.542
00:19:05.682 --> 00:19:08.242
00:19:08.282 --> 00:19:09.313
00:19:09.363 --> 00:19:11.442
00:19:11.593 --> 00:19:26.282
00:19:26.282 --> 00:19:30.353
00:19:30.682 --> 00:19:34.423
00:19:34.442 --> 00:19:40.212
00:19:40.212 --> 00:19:45.492
00:19:45.893 --> 00:19:51.313
00:19:51.313 --> 00:19:58.063
00:19:58.272 --> 00:20:04.663
00:20:04.942 --> 00:20:09.212
00:20:09.252 --> 00:20:14.903
00:20:14.952 --> 00:20:19.732
00:20:19.732 --> 00:20:22.173
00:20:22.573 --> 00:20:23.613
00:20:23.893 --> 00:20:29.813
00:20:30.182 --> 00:20:40.692
00:20:41.093 --> 00:20:50.173
00:20:50.343 --> 00:21:06.972
00:21:07.242 --> 00:21:17.299
00:21:17.434 --> 00:21:18.835
00:21:19.234 --> 00:21:25.275
00:21:25.664 --> 00:21:34.420
00:21:34.819 --> 00:21:45.670
00:21:45.970 --> 00:21:49.630
00:21:49.950 --> 00:21:53.690