The Hype Train for GRAM and the TON has Left the Station 

The Telegram Open Network (TON) is still in its final stages of development, but the hype surrounding this new blockchain is beginning to reach some high notches. 

Decentral Park Capital, a blockchain digital asset fund based out of New York, recently published a research report which estimates that the TON, as well as the GRAM token that is also expected to be released from the messaging firm soon, will grow to become one of the top protocol assets in less than a decade. 

High potential, big estimates

The report which has been titled, “The Current State of Telegram Open Network. A sleeping giant awakens,” points out that TON does have some high potential, while adding that it could help provide a gateway for crypto assets, reduce the number of unbanked people in the world, and also help pave the way for the development of Web 3.0 applications. 

Given all of these, Decentral estimates that the TON could surge to a $20 billion valuation in the next 5 years. 

Expected challenges

However, as Decentral notes, there will also be some internal and external issues that could threaten its ability to herald the new wave of technologies. The first is the fact that TON appears to be less open-sourced, which, as the report notes, could be a demerit in a world where there is an increasing scarcity of human talent. 

The report also expresses concerns that governments could weaken adoption by reducing fiat-to-GRAM value flows, while also adding issues such as a lack of accessibility to GRAM by Telegram users, delivery delays, and low interest from cryptocurrency investors themselves. As Decentral notes, if these issues aren’t addressed, there could potentially be an increase in selling pressure over demand, which will ultimately affect the asset. 

Support is flowing in

The hype for both TON and the GRAM token has already started to make the rounds. Ever since the social messaging company announced that it would be launching the GRAM on October 16, companies have scrambled to get their hands on it. Coinbase Custody, the custodial arm of San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, announced earlier today that it would be providing custody for the GRAM token as soon as it goes live. 

The company becomes just the second firm to announce support for the GRAM, after the Anchorage Trust Company (the digital asset custodian of software firm Anchor Labs) announced two days earlier that it would provide institutional investors access to the GRAM. 

Two different assets, two different outcomes

The reception for both TON and the GRAM has definitely been much different from Libra, the stablecoin project from social media giant Facebook. While many seem to be excited about the launch despite Telegram’s consistent silence on the matter, the announcement of Libra has been met with quite a lot of criticism from home and abroad. 

Now, to be fair, these instances aren’t really the same. Facebook is a much larger company, and both the GRAM and Libra aren’t developed to carry out the same purpose. However, given that most of the backlash that Libra has seen is because of Facebook and its past, it is worth imagining if there could have been a different outcome if the roles were reversed.