Telegram & TON Ecosystem : The mini apps & Games airdrops driving mass adoption
Source: bekiinfo
For years, protocols have grappled with finding effective ways to incentivize early adopters and developers. The complexity of onboarding users into the blockchain and crypto ecosystems has often been a major hurdle. This challenge, among others, has driven web3 and crypto projects to develop strategies for rewarding early adopters, such as airdrops, and providing grants to developers and founders who build on their blockchain technology and infrastructure.
Airdrops? What Are they?
Coinbase defines airdrops as a strategy used by blockchain startups to distribute tokens or coins to specific wallet addresses. This approach is typically employed to raise awareness and incentivize early believers and adopters of a project.
Airdrops have Evolved over time
The concept of airdrops dates back to the early days of Bitcoin. In 2010, Gavin Andresen, an early Bitcoin developer and Princeton computer science graduate, created a simple crypto website that awarded users 5 BTC daily for solving a simple captcha. This was one of the first significant instances of airdrops in the crypto and blockchain industry.
As time passed, newer protocols began experimenting with airdrops to attract and retain users in the crypto space. One of the first projects to adopt this strategy was NXT blockchain, which launched in 2013 as the first proof-of-stake blockchain, developed by Jelurida. According to the Jelurida Public License (JPL), developers were required to allocate a percentage of their tokens for all forks, clones, or other projects with tokens developed on their infrastructure.
The airdrop strategy gained momentum as developers began to capitalize on it to increase project awareness. Initially, participants could receive airdrops by performing simple tasks like following social media accounts or joining communities. This was an improvement from earlier methods that required users to submit wallet details via a Google form and wait for the airdrop.
However, the simplicity of these methods led to an influx of airdrop farmers rather than genuine users. To address this, protocols began restructuring their airdrop strategies, focusing on rewarding active members of their communities long before token launches. Users were expected to engage in more complex activities such as swapping tokens, bridging to other protocols and chains, providing liquidity, or running nodes for infrastructure and AI-related projects.
A notable successful example of this new approach was Uniswap's airdrop, where users who had interacted with the protocol before its token launch were rewarded with 400 UNI, worth about $1,200 at the time.
Airdrops in 2024
Fourteen years after the first airdrop, the landscape has evolved significantly. Technology now plays a crucial role in managing airdrop campaigns, with companies developing software infrastructure to streamline processes and address challenges. Leading quest platforms like Zeally, Galxe, QuestN, Layer3, and powerful and expressive points-building platforms like Absinthe have emerged, managing point systems & quests that determine the amount of airdrop rewards based on users' on-chain activities and quest results.
Source: Absinthe website
These platforms often cater to protocols with a technically proficient audience, as interacting with these systems can be complex. However, user-friendly alternatives are emerging.
TON Ecosystem Mini Apps and Games: Gateway to mass adoption
The Open Network (TON) is a decentralized computer network featuring a layer 1 blockchain, initially designed by Telegram.
What’s the Hype About?
On May 9, 2024, Binance announced the introduction of Notcoin on its launchpool, with a listing on May 16. This surprised many who had dismissed the tap-to-earn mining Telegram project as a scam. For those who had participated, it was a moment of success, as Notcoin reached a high of $0.0126 in May 2024.
Notcoin, a clicker game where players accrue points by clicking on a coin, transitioned from its mining phase to the NOT token in April, launching on TON in mid-May. This transition allowed players to convert their in-game Notcoin into the real-world NOT token, further enhancing its appeal.
The Result? FOMO
The success of Notcoin's listing inspired other founders to build mini-games and dApps on Telegram and TON’s tech stack. This also encouraged others to explore similar tap-to-earn games on Telegram, hoping to participate in future launches and listings.
Hamster Kombat
Hamster Kombat, is a tap to earn game on the TON chain, is set to launch soon. Its native token, $HMSTR, has already begun pre-market trading on platforms like KuCoin, ahead of its July 2024 launch and airdrop. The game features an entertaining hamster CEO bot and offers DeFi opportunities under its ‘Mine’ section. Players can earn rewards by clicking on the hamster, unlocking capabilities and roles in the game.
The $HAMSTER tokens are essential for upgrading hamsters, boosting earnings, and expanding the digital empire in the game. These tokens can also be used to purchase special cards that increase the number of coins earned per hour.
JetTon Games
JetTon is another promising project on the TON blockchain. The native token, $JETTON, functions as the gaming marketplace on the network, offering a range of games from casino games to fantasy football and live games. Players can access these games via Telegram, using $JETTON tokens for betting, participating in games, receiving rewards, and voting on platform governance issues.
Future plans for JetTon include token staking, farming, and monthly token burns to maintain the token's value and utility.
TapSwap
TapSwap, a popular tap-to-earn Telegram game, has attracted over 60 million players and a community of more than 16 million members. Like in Hamster Kombat, players can earn daily rewards, and the official TapSwap (TAPS) token is set to launch on TON in Q3 2024. By playing now, users can accumulate coins to convert into cryptocurrency when the token goes live.
So what’s special about them?
By 2024, the criteria for airdrop eligibility have become increasingly complex and technical, often making the process seem like it's only for degens. However, the tokens, games, and projects launching on the TON ecosystem are changing this narrative. Their straightforward approach to ecosystem participation—featuring simple tasks like tap-to-earn, watch-to-earn, and community engagement—stands in stark contrast to many recent large-scale airdrops that require users to complete arduous and highly technical tasks, such as bridging across different chains, providing liquidity, and executing DEX transactions. The simplicity and accessibility of the TON and Telegram ecosystem's airdrop criteria have attracted a broad audience, driving mass onboarding to web3.
As this trend continues, it's evident that mass adoption is upon us, bringing both significant opportunities and challenges. Companies like Absinthe, along with others in the web3 loyalty management space, must evolve and develop more efficient, scalable technology to handle the influx of the next billion users into web3 while addressing the complexities of loyalty programs, airdrops, and points systems.
But Why TON?
Access to Telegram’s 900M+ Users:
Since the TON ecosystem is built on Telegram’s technology, projects on TON can access Telegram’s vast user base of nearly a billion users. This allows these projects to reach a larger audience than they might on other blockchain protocols.
Support from TON Ventures and TON Foundation:
TON receives financial, technical, and strategic support from TON Foundation, an independent nonprofit that supports the growth of the TON ecosystem. The foundation also established TON Accelerator to incubate and accelerate projects on TON. Through these programs, projects receive non-dilutive grants, co-marketing support, and strategic introductions, along with free and discounted Telegram advertising credits.
Telegram’s Open-Source Nature:
Both TON and Telegram are open source, enabling developers to build dApps and bots on their codebase. These bots have significantly impacted the onboarding process, making it smoother and more accessible for users.
Chain Abstraction:
TON and Telegram have simplified the user experience by removing the complexities and technicalities often associated with blockchain protocols. With a simple user interface and an integrated wallet in the Telegram app, users can seamlessly trade tokens without leaving the app, making TON and Telegram ecosystems well-suited for newcomers to the crypto space.
TON isn’t perfect
User Retention:
Like many projects, most users in the TON ecosystem tend to leave after claiming their airdrops, a common issue for one-time airdrops. This is often due to the lack of vesting periods for rewards, leading to token dumping upon CEX listing.
Scams and Rug Pulls:
The privacy nature of Telegram has led to an increase in scams and rug pulls, particularly targeting non-crypto-native players. Scammers launch fake games to lure users into connecting their wallets to phishing sites, draining funds from their wallets.
Regulatory Uncertainty:
TON faces significant regulatory uncertainty, especially given its association with Telegram, which has faced regulatory challenges in the past. The SEC previously halted Telegram’s original TON project, raising concerns about compliance and the legal status of tokens within the ecosystem. This uncertainty affects the projects built on TON and could impact the number of users participating in the ecosystem.
Speculators Take (Not Financial Advice)
It looks like TON is really picking up momentum. Word on the street is that top investors, including Pantera, are buying up TON tokens over-the-counter, which says a lot about the confidence in its future. The shift towards consumer products is expected to bring in millions of new users, which could significantly boost the ecosystem’s overall health. Plus, the integration of the TON blockchain with USDT and other coins in Binance deposits is another positive sign. The recent Binance launchpool and listing have only added to the excitement, drawing even more attention to TON. All in all, things are looking pretty bullish for TON right now.
Impact of tap to earn Games on the TON Ecosystem
There’s no doubt that points-based games and airdrops have boosted the TON ecosystem. The popularity of incentivized games and mini-apps within the Telegram ecosystem has even led to TON surpassing major blockchain platforms like Ethereum in terms of daily active users, according to on-chain data from artemis on May
Source: artemis
However, it’s important to note that the TON ecosystem has relatively few consumer apps. Consumer apps typically bring loyal users, unlike most players in TON mini-games and tap-to-earn experiences who are primarily interested in claiming their airdrop points and tokens before moving on.
TON's Future
TON’s journey from its SEC-sanctioned origins, founded by Telegram’s creator, to becoming a top blockchain project has been marked by significant developments. The ecosystem's TVL surged to over $500M within two months, according to DeFiLlama, thanks to the support of developers and the community.
Source:defillama
In May, the TON Foundation launched an accelerator program to support builders and founders with funds and strategic guidance, accompanied by a $25M fund for the inaugural cohort. Recently, the TON Foundation announced the launch of a $40M TON Ventures fund to support early-stage consumer and gaming projects on TON. With this level of support and a focus on consumer products, TON is well-positioned to onboard loyal users through repetitive rewards and loyalty points programs, setting it apart from the one-time airdrop models of the past.