CoinVoice: Please introduce yourself and your experience in the Crypto space.
Justin: My name is Justin Hyun, and I am the Director of Growth at the TON Foundation. Prior to being the Director of Growth, I was the Head of Incubation at the TON Foundation. My Crypto career began at BlockFi’s Institutional Strategy Department.
CoinVoice: Perhaps many readers are not familiar with TON. Can you give a brief introduction?
Justin: TON is a layer1 project initiated by Telegram founder Pavel Durov, but its development is carried out by an independent development team from the community. In addition to the higher pursuit of technical features such as scalability and sharding, it also cooperates with Telegram messenger, whose product functions are very similar to China's WeChat, such as Telegram bot (mini program), Stories (friend circle), Channels (public account), Wallet (encrypted version of WeChat payment), etc. Telegram is truly applying encryption technology to users with more than 800 million monthly active users, which is completely different from other layer1. This year, Telegram's embedded encryption wallet is the focus, which may include a native non-custodial wallet that can be used by any Telegram user to connect to decentralized applications. In this way, for new users of cryptocurrency, wallets such as "Metamask" will no longer be needed in the future. In Chinese, it means "a WeChat ecosystem of cryptocurrency."
CoinVoice: There is a saying that the Ton ecosystem is very special. Whether in terms of technical routes, ecological development, ecological applications and other aspects, it seems to be independent of other Crypto ecosystems. What do you think of this statement?
Justin: If what happened in the crypto space in the past is defined as "Web3", then TON is indeed like "Web2.5", that is, it has more mature practices of Web2 in large-scale applications and convenient user experience, but avoids the drawbacks of Web2 such as user privacy issues, ownership issues, and unequal profit distribution. Imagine a decentralized version of the famous WeChat applet "Water Drop Fundraising". For donors, it may be better to use a decentralized crowdfunding platform in social software.
"Web3" in a narrow sense is great, but not perfect. If only <100 million people think it's good, then it's not good enough. The typical definition of Web3 is too closely related to "finance", and only a few people in the world are "gamblers" in a certain definition. Most Web3 practitioners today look down on TON, just like traditional banks or financial institutions looked down on Alipay 20 years ago. Web3 in a narrow sense is more about monetization and is a game for whales. Web2 is more about traffic and "a little bit adds up to a lot". So, it is indeed a different ideology. But you will find how afraid traditional financial institutions or governments are of Alipay and WeChat Pay today.
TON is not afraid of being considered a very special layer 1, but we are a layer 1 that can bring millions of Web2 users to the cryptocurrency world, and after they come in, they may go to other layer 1s to meet their niche needs. Therefore, do not regard TON as a freak or an enemy, we are friends with all other crypto ecosystems.
CoinVoice: Recently, the Ton ecosystem has become popular because of TG Bot. What do you think are the deep-seated reasons behind this?
Justin: I am not surprised by the popularity of TG Bot. Today, all popular bots only show a very, very small potential of our ecosystem in the future. They only attract Web3 traders, even highly concentrated traders. Millions of Web2 users who have never used any dapps have not yet entered our ecosystem through Bots. The Chinese may be the people in the world who understand our potential best. You have witnessed everything that has happened in the WeChat ecosystem in the past 5 years, including mini programs, mini games, WeChat payments, WeChat merchants, viral marketing, etc. The power of social networks in the crypto world has not yet been released. Wallet, Story, Channels, group chats, Bots, etc., TON has created a closed loop for the viral spread of Web3 projects around the world.
CoinVoice: Although TG Bot still has a lot of room for improvement, it continues to drive the rise of the entire sector. What impact do you think this will have on the Ton ecosystem in the long run? Is it possible for Ton to build a decentralized financial layer?
Justin: Again, figuratively speaking, it is a decentralized "Pinduoduo" or "Shuidichou" or "Yanglegeyang". TON can perfectly solve the problems that WeChat Pay and Alipay have brought to users, which the government has not really solved. From decentralized Bots, games, e-commerce, tools, and various assets, they will all be driven by the financial layer built on TON and its liquidity. We are the real game changers.
CoinVoice: Do you think there are still some urgent issues to be resolved in the development of the TON ecosystem?
Justin: Using a non-custodial crypto wallet in Telegram is our current focus. After it is launched, it is crucial to make it successful and creatively used by all users in Telegram. As a potential killer dapp Bot, it may be the key to defeating Alipay like the WeChat red envelopes during the Spring Festival in 2015. I guess it can be a decentralized tool or game.
CoinVoice: Can you share with us Ton's future development plans, such as ecological development and user growth?
Justin: Crypto wallets and non-custodial wallets in Telegram are our current focus. More and more online or offline killer bots can promote the development of cryptocurrency wallets and carry more new crypto users. Of course, TON's technology also needs to improve with the surge in users, such as scalability, speed and sharding, more token standards, bridges, and decentralized storage.
