Is TON’s DeFi ready to lead a true financial revolution?
The following is a guest post and opinion from Slavik Baranov, CEO at STON.fi Dev.
From Gaming Phenomenon to Financial Ambition
In 2024, the TON blockchain became one of the most talked-about ecosystems in crypto — not because of a groundbreaking DeFi protocol, but thanks to the meteoric rise of viral tap-to-earn games on Telegram. Titles like Hamster Kombat and Notcoin drew millions virtually overnight, pushing daily active wallets to nearly 2 million by September.
The surge proved TON can onboard users at a pace few blockchains can match. But it also exposed the fragility of hype-driven adoption: many players came for quick rewards and left when incentives ended. Speculative capital — fluid and opportunistic by nature — followed the same path.
Games showed TON’s reach. But they were never...