FOGINT: TOMA Abandoning Telegram in Sharp U Turn
December 24, 2024
Observations from the FOGINT research team.
Pressure is building on Telegram’s vision for Messenger to become the hub for game crypto currency. Bitnewsbot published allegedly accurate information in “Popular Telegram Game Tomarket Ditches TON, Picks Aptos for Token Launch.” The article asserts:
Telegram-based gaming platform Tomarket announced it will launch its TOMA token on the Aptos blockchain network, abandoning initial plans to deploy on The Open Network (TON). The decision affects millions of users ahead of the December 20 token launch, marking a significant shift in the Telegram mini-app ecosystem.
One of the reasons given for the switch, according to Bitnewsbot, is the “speed and infrastructure capabilities” of Aptos’s blockchain network. The article continues:
The decision stands out as most Telegram-based cryptocurrency applications, including prominent names like Hamster Kombat and Notcoin, typically deploy on TON. The TON blockchain has seen substantial growth, currently ranking as the 16th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to CoinGecko with, a price increase of approximately 190% over the past year.
The online information service Decrypt.io adds some additional information which suggests that the Telegram infrastructure is not as supple as the Aptos offering; specifically:
Tomarket has handed out allocations of tokens across multiple airdrop waves, but players have been unable to withdraw or trade the token. The app’s developers previously said that the TOMA token was generated, but clarified afterwards that the term was used to describe token allocations within the app. And now, Tomarket won’t ultimately deploy to TON.
Decrypt.io reports:
Tomarket isn’t the first game to choose an alternative path, however: tap-to-earn combat game MemeFi recently launched its token on Sui, after pivoting from its original chain of Ethereum layer-2 network Linea.
The FOGINT team thinks that this Tonmarket abrupt change of direction may increase the pressure on Telegram at a time the organization is trying to wriggle free from the French red tape ensnaring Pavel Durov. Mr. Durov is on a legal tightrope. Defections like Tonmarket may spark some unpredictable actions by the Telegram collections of “organizations.”
Stephen E Arnold, December 24, 2024
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