Free TON is an unofficial fork of the Telegram Open Network blockchain

The startup TON Labs, which participated in the development of the Telegram Open Network (TON), launched its version on Thursday, May 7blockchain called Free TON. The initiative, which was supported by 13 validators, uses the TON Labs code. During a video conference on Zoom, a genesis block of a new blockchain was generated.

Free TON launched with a native token calledTON Crystal (not Gram).

According to Alexander Filatov, CEO of TON Labs, Telegram did not participate in the launch of the project:

“This is an independent open source launch.”, he said in a comment for CoinDesk.

TON Labs will provide technical support for the code, while a team (currently) of 13 validators will support the network.

Launch of TON, which was originallyscheduled for October 2019, was delayed after the SEC sued Telegram. At the end of April, Pavel Durov’s team decided to postpone the launch of the Telegram Open Network blockchain platform indefinitely.

However, since the TON code is publicly available on GitHub, it is technically possible to launch the blockchain without Telegram.

According to the founder of the EverStake Staking Platform Sergey Vasilchuk, who is one of the validators, this is not the main one, but it is not a test network either.

“We are trying to launch the alpha version, let's see how this software works in real life”- said Vasilchuk.

According to him, like the Kusama network for Polkadot, Free TON will serve as a testing ground for technology before a full launch.

"We consider it as a test network, whichhas a real distribution, but can be returned to the genesis at any time if vulnerabilities are found in the code, or attackers decide to take advantage of them ”Said Hendrick Hofstadt, CEO of Certus One startup.

Among the validators there are three crypto exchanges - Kiev Kuna, London CEX and Hong Kong HitBTC. According to Filatov, they will not list tokens and will only work as validators.

According to the press release, since the launch of eachthe validator will receive 380,000 tokens for staking. The system provides for a limited release of 5 billion tokens (as planned in the original TON project). Of these, 85% will be distributed to “partners and users of Free TON,” 10% to developers, 5% to validators.

According to the participants, Free TON, as a fork of TON, will have nothing to do with Telegram's obligation to distribute tokens to ICO investors for $ 1.7 billion.

“It's very cool to launch a network in which there are only validators and developers, and the vast majority of tokens are controlled by the community, not by investors. This is a great experiment. "“Said Brian Crane, co-founder and CEO of Chorus One.

Hofstadt supported this view by saying, “This is one of the first networks to start with a token distribution that is not centered around early investors and venture capitalists.”

Those who financed the development of TON will be able to eithertake back 72% of your investment now, or lend your Telegram funds for a year to receive a 110% return in April 2021. American investors were offered only the first option.

New details of the deal became known on Wednesday.As reported by The Bell, Telegram offered investors to arrange their investments in the project as a loan at 52.77% per annum - then they can count on a return of 110% of their initial investments in 2021. At the same time, Telegram reserves the opportunity to repay this loan at any time, that is, investors will receive 72% plus interest on the loan until the repayment date (but not less than after three months of using the loan).

Qiwi founder and TON investor Sergei Solonin said in a comment for CoinDesk that it makes no sense to lend Telegram money on such terms.

</p>

5
/
5
(
1

voice
)