Toncoin (TON), the native cryptocurrency of The Open Network blockchain, has achieved a significant milestone by overtaking Cardano’s ADA token to become the tenth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. On 9 April 2024, TON’s price surged by 13% to reach $6.65, resulting in a market capitalization of $23 billion, surpassing ADA’s $22 billion market cap.
The recent rally might partially be explained by TON Society developers setting aside $5 million in Toncoin to incentivize users to verify their identity using palm-scanning technology.
In an effort to address the growing need for secure digital identity verification, the TON Foundation announced on 7 April 2024 a collaboration between TON Society and HumanCode. This partnership aims to integrate advanced technology for verifying digital personhood within the TON Ecosystem. Announced during the Hong Kong Web3 Festival on 8 April 2024, the initiative focuses on utilizing palm scanning technology as a means to establish secure digital identities for users.
The collaboration introduces a $5 million incentive program designed to encourage adoption within the TON community. HumanCode’s palm scanning technology, which can be used on any smartphone, promises to offer a universal solution compatible across different browsers and camera types, without discriminating against varying skin tones. This initiative aims to securely verify the digital identities of Telegram’s user base, projected to reach 500 million within five years, using a simple, non-intrusive method accessible to all smartphone users.
The choice of palm scanning as a verification method reflects a commitment to privacy and security, providing a user-friendly alternative to more cumbersome digital identification processes. This approach is part of a broader vision shared by TON Society and HumanCode to make digital interactions as secure as real-world interactions, using blockchain and AI to enhance user privacy and data protection.
The partnership marks a significant step towards integrating AI technologies with blockchain to meet the challenges of digital identity verification. It’s highlighted as a key development in ensuring operations such as airdrops or transaction analysis within the TON Ecosystem are conducted with verified identities, reinforcing the commitment to maintaining privacy.
Toncoin’s impressive performance has outpaced that of Cardano’s ADA token. Over the past month, TON’s price has surged over 122.7%, while ADA’s price has fallen by 21.9%. Year-to-date, TON’s price has increased by an astounding 185%, while ADA’s price has seen a decline of 8.33%.
The increased interest in TON can be traced back to its integration into the popular messaging app Telegram in September 2023. The TON wallet became available to Telegram’s 800 million users worldwide, which helped drive the initial price surge.
Additionally, on 20 March 2024, the TON Foundation initiated a significant Toncoin rewards program called The Open League, with a total value exceeding $115 million based on the current market prices.
Starting on April 1, the program began allocating 30 million TON tokens to various projects within the TON ecosystem and its users.
The Open League’s funding will be allocated through various methods, including a performance-based contest, straightforward token mining processes, airdrops and quests, and enhancements to liquidity pools.
Within this setup, a performance competition specifically for TON-based initiatives has designated around $15 million in Toncoin for potential winners, while ecosystem users have the opportunity to gain a portion of Toncoin rewards valued at $100 million by engaging with these projects.
Projects like Notcoin on Telegram have implemented basic token mining strategies, a model that Open League participating projects are encouraged to adopt to attract new cryptocurrency enthusiasts to the platform.
About $22 million in Toncoin is earmarked for airdrops and blockchain-based quests, with liquidity pool rewards for tokens participating in The League receiving a boost from $40 million in Toncoin. According to the TON Foundation, an additional $38 million in Toncoin is set aside to support the launch of a new project on the TON network.
These initiatives have played a crucial role in driving user adoption and contributing to Toncoin’s price appreciation.
In contrast, Cardano’s ADA token has seen little interest this year, as investor attention has been focused on the spot Bitcoin ETFs that launched on 11 January 2024 and other major blockchain upgrades, such as Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade.
