Telegram Oracles Take Over TON: Sixfold Fees Vanish, Chaos Ensues

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In a universe where coins suddenly develop opinions and validators simply refuse to stop talking, TONcoin has surged this week after Pavel Durov, the man who brought us a messenger and a destiny to be mildly exasperated with, announced the world’s most efficient career move: Telegram will replace the TON Foundation, assume as largest validator, and magically slash fees by roughly six times. The price slalomed from about $1.30 on May 3 to around $2.50 in three days, a ride that could make a rollercoaster seem punctual. And yes, TON managed to climb more than 30% in the past 24 hours alone.

Meanwhile, the social chatter behaved like a caffeinated hive of bees on wheels.

TON Chatter Goes Vertical (With Mild Alarm)

On-chain analytics platform Santiment noted the chatter spiking, with mentions reaching 91 in a four-hour window on May 5, about six times the usual, and staying high across several windows. The main driver? Telegram taking direct control over validation and protocol direction, which writes the plot with near perfect clarity: centralized, efficient, and possibly slightly terrifying to those who enjoy the smell of decentralization in the morning.

Santiment added that while a similar centralization move by Arbitrum recently triggered governance concerns, Telegram’s approach is being received positively-perhaps because the universe appears to admire bold moves, or at least moves that come with a receipt and a dramatic press release.

On Monday, Durov took to X to reveal that TON fees have been reduced by about six times and are now close to zero. He also declared that Telegram will become its largest validator. The next steps reportedly include new developer tools and performance upgrades to strengthen the network, or at least to give it something shiny to boast about at the next network-operator cocktail party.

The ton.org website now shows a simple holding page that reads,

“ton.org is now controlled by MTONGA. Expect changes soon.”

Previous Upgrades

This latest move follows through on an earlier pronouncement by Durov that TON would soon transition toward fully fee-less transactions, with fees remaining fixed regardless of load, which is a sentence that makes even the most diligent accountant sigh with relief and boredom in equal measure.

Previously, the network rolled out a major core consensus upgrade (Catchain 2.0) on April 10 that reduced transaction finality from around ten seconds to about one second using a revised consensus mechanism, enabling faster confirmations. The update also increased block production, which impacted validator rewards and adjusted staking dynamics, thereby leading to a higher annual inflation rate. A fact which suggests that everything is a little faster and a little thirstier for incentive payments, which is not unlike a hungry dragon at a bookkeeping conference.

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2026-05-06 21:14