Toncoin has seen a strong price surge this week after Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced major changes to the network’s structure. According to his statement, Telegram will take over the role previously held by the TON Foundation, become the largest validator on the network, and reduce transaction fees by roughly six times. Following the announcement, TON’s price climbed from about 1.30 dollars on May 3 to around 2.50 dollars within three days, with a more than 30 percent gain recorded in just the past 24 hours.
Social Engagement Around TON Spikes Sharply
On chain analytics platform Santiment reported a dramatic rise in social activity surrounding TON. Mentions of the project surged to 91 within a four hour period on May 5, roughly six times higher than normal levels, and remained elevated across multiple tracking windows.
The main catalyst behind the increased attention is Telegram’s decision to take a direct role in network validation and protocol oversight.
Santiment noted that while similar centralization moves, such as recent developments involving Arbitrum, have previously raised governance concerns, the market reaction to TON has been notably more positive despite the structural similarities.
On Monday, Durov also confirmed on social media that network fees have been reduced by approximately six times, bringing them close to zero. He added that Telegram will now operate as the largest validator and outlined plans for new developer tools and performance improvements aimed at strengthening the ecosystem.
The official TON website currently displays a basic message stating that it is now under the control of MTONGA and that further changes are expected.
Ongoing Network Changes and Previous Upgrades
This development builds on earlier comments from Durov last month, where he indicated that TON was moving toward a fee free transaction model. At that time, he also noted that fees would remain stable regardless of network congestion.
Earlier in April, the network implemented a major update known as Catchain 2.0. This upgrade reduced transaction finality from around ten seconds to approximately one second by improving the consensus mechanism, enabling much faster confirmations. It also increased block production, which influenced validator rewards and staking dynamics, ultimately contributing to a higher annual inflation rate.#crypto#cryptonews https://coinsignals.net https://t.me/coinsignalpublic
