With access to 200 mln Telegram users, the developers of the project hope to reach a massive audience with what they are calling the Telegram Open Network (TON).
TON is being touted as a scalable multi-Blockchain architecture using a proof-of-stake protocol to address what the white paper describes as major hurdles facing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.The white paper cites a lack of capacity to manage high volumes of transactions, unfriendly user applications and a limited market to use cryptocurrencies for goods, content and services as stumbling blocks TON will address.
By using Telegram’s massive user base, the developers hope to reach the critical mass required for mass adoption if its services.
According to the white paper, the TON Blockchain is “a scalable and flexible Blockchain architecture that consists of a master chain and up to 292 accompanying Blockchains.”
The various protocols that were chosen promise to be able to process millions of transactions per second.
This will be facilitated by the use of an infinite ‘sharding’ paradigm which will allow the Blockchain to split and merge in response to different network loads. Instant hypercube routing will supposedly manage transaction across different Blockchains. Along with a proof-of-stake protocol, the use of 2-D distributed ledgers is said to allow TON to build “new valid blocks on top of any blocks that were proven to be incorrect to avoid unnecessary forks.”
Both Nikolai and Pavel Durov, as well as a number of Telegram’s senior developers, are listed in the white paper. However, there has been no official comment from either of the Durov brothers.