Pavel Durov Says Telegram Will Replace TON Foundation, Making TON’s Largest Validator

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said on May 4, 2026 that Telegram would replace the TON Foundation as the main driving force behind The Open Network and become the network’s largest validator, a move that immediately reshaped how traders priced TON.

“Toncoin (CRYPTO: TON) surged on Monday after Telegram founder Pavel Durov said the messaging giant will become the “driving force” behind The Open Network blockchain”

Benzinga

CoinDesk reported that “Toncoin has surged more than 36% in 24 hours,” and said the token hit a “four-month high of $1.80” as the market repriced TON “as a Telegram-led ecosystem again.”

Benzinga

CoinDesk also quoted Durov saying, “Fees in TON have dropped 6× — to nearly zero,” linking the governance change to lower transaction costs.

crypto.news similarly said Durov stated Telegram would “replace TON Foundation as TON’s main force and largest network validator,” and added that TON rose “about 28% in 24 hours” while trading “near $1.82.”

Unchained Podcast described the same announcement as Telegram replacing the TON Foundation as “the primary operator of The Open Network and become the blockchain’s largest validator,” and said Toncoin surged “more than 23% in 24 hours.”

Across outlets, the common thread was Durov’s framing of a leadership shift paired with a near-term technical roadmap, including a “new ton.org” and “2-3 weeks” for developer and performance upgrades.

Durov’s announcement tied Telegram’s new role to a specific change in TON’s cost structure, with multiple outlets repeating that fees were being pushed toward zero.

CoinDesk wrote that Durov said transaction fees on TON’s parent blockchain, The Open Network, “had fallen nearly to zero,” and it added that Durov had previously announced transaction costs would drop to “0.00039 TON, or about $0.0005.”

bloomingbit

CoinDesk also stated, “Fees in TON have dropped 6× — to nearly zero,” and said the shift seemed to be driving the move as TON rallied.

TradingView reported that Durov’s post said, “Fees in TON have dropped 6× — to nearly zero. Next step — Telegram replaces the TON Foundation as the driving force behind TON and becomes its largest validator,” and it repeated the timeline that the network is expected to receive “new ton.org, new dev tools, new performance upgrades,” with “2-3 weeks.”

ForkLog similarly connected the price move to the fee reduction, saying Durov announced “network fees have been reduced sixfold and are “approaching zero.”

Unchained Podcast added another concrete figure, saying a “new fixed base fee of approximately $0.0005 per transaction took effect on May 1,” designed to support micropayments and high-frequency activity inside Telegram’s Mini Apps and in-app payments.

The governance announcement triggered sharp, but not identical, price and volume reactions across outlets, reflecting how different trackers captured the move.

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CCN

CoinDesk said Toncoin “surged more than 36% in 24 hours,” and it reported that the token reached “a four-month high of $1.80,” while also describing the broader Telegram-linked ecosystem with “Notcoin gaining nearly 26%, Dogs rising more than 100%.”

crypto.news reported that TON climbed “from about $1.35 to nearly $1.80” after Durov’s comments and said TON was “trading near $1.82 at press time,” with a “28.10% gain over 24 hours” and “about $632.75 million” in daily trading volume.

Benzinga said TON surged “over 23% in the last 24 hours to a 4-month high,” and reported trading volume “skyrocketing 623%,” while also stating that “At the time of writing, TON was exchanging hands at $1.71, up 23.55% in the last 24 hours.”

Unchained Podcast put the move at “more than 23% in 24 hours” and said trading volume jumped “324% to $309 million.”

MEXC Exchange described a larger daily move, saying TON’s price surged “from $1.37 to a peak of $1.84 over the following 24 hours,” representing “approximately 34% growth,” and it reported trading volume “exceeding $630 million over a 24-hour period.”

While the announcement was framed by some outlets as a step toward “tech superiority,” other reporting emphasized the governance and decentralization implications of Telegram taking over validator leadership.

CoinDesk described the move as reducing “one of TON’s biggest overhangs,” specifically “the gap between the Telegram narrative and TON Foundation's execution,” and it said Durov’s post indicated Telegram would become “TON's largest validator.”

Coinpaper

Cryptopolitan went further in describing the shift as reinforcing TON as the “exclusive blockchain for the massive Telegram Mini Apps ecosystem,” and it said the move aimed to formally turn Telegram into a “Super App” for Web3.

At the same time, crypto.news reported that “The details remain limited,” adding that Telegram “has not yet explained how its validator role will work” and “has also not disclosed its planned validator stake or how the TON Foundation’s role will change after the shift.”

Unchained Podcast explicitly raised “centralization questions,” stating that “concentrating validator authority and technical leadership in a single corporate entity is a departure from the decentralized model the foundation was designed to represent.”

The same Unchained piece also provided a concrete figure for Telegram’s stake, saying Telegram “has staked approximately 2.2 million TON, worth roughly $2.88 million, to secure the chain,” and it identified a “June 2026 validator vote on inflation” as the next major governance test.

Beyond the immediate price reaction, the sources point to a near-term sequence of technical deliverables and a longer-term governance milestone.

“Toncoin price has surged after Telegram founder Pavel Durov said Telegram will replace the TON Foundation as the main driving force behind The Open Network and become its largest validator”

Coinpaper

Multiple outlets repeated that Telegram’s roadmap includes a “new ton.org” and “new dev tools” plus “performance upgrades” within “2-3 weeks,” with CoinDesk saying Durov expected a “refreshed ton.org” within “two to three weeks.”

Cointelegraph

TradingView echoed the same timing, quoting Durov’s post that the network is expected to receive “new ton.org, new dev tools, new performance upgrades,” with a stated timeline of “2-3 weeks.”

Unchained Podcast added that the timing follows “Catchain 2.0, activated on April 9,” which it said reduced “block generation time from about 2.5 seconds to roughly 400 milliseconds,” and it described a “new fixed base fee of approximately $0.0005 per transaction” taking effect on “May 1.”

Coinpaper tied the fee reduction to micropayments and high-frequency activity, stating that “TON fees were also reduced on May 1 to a fixed base fee of about 0.00039 TON, or roughly $0.0005,” and it said the lower fee structure is intended to support “micropayments, app activity and high-frequency transactions inside Telegram-based services.”

For governance, Unchained Podcast identified “a June 2026 validator vote on inflation,” and Coinpaper provided additional context by saying Catchain 2.0 increased “projected annual inflation from about 0.6% to roughly 3.6%,” with validators expected to vote on “reducing block rewards.”