TON price doubles after Telegram made a move critics say cuts against crypto’s core promise

A notable development has hit the crypto markets. Toncoin (TON) surged from roughly $1. 32 on May 1 to an intraday high of $2. 90 by May 7, pushing its market cap to approximately $7.

The catalyst was Pavel Durov's announcement that Telegram would replace the TON Foundation as the network's primary driving force and become its largest validator within two to three weeks. org was updated to state that the domain is “controlled by MTONGA. ” Traders took the combination as confirmation that TON had, in substance, become Telegram's chain.

Market Dynamics

This means being directed by the same company whose 1 billion users would determine its value. Toncoin climbed from $1. 32 on May 1 to an intraday high of $2.

90 on May 7 after Durov announced Telegram would take over TON's governance. In January 2025, Telegram and TON formalized exclusivity agreements that went far beyond branding. TON became the sole blockchain infrastructure for Telegram Mini Apps, TON Connect became the required wallet-connection standard for blockchain-enabled mini apps, and Toncoin became the only cryptocurrency accepted for Telegram Stars, Premium, Ads, Gateway, and certain developer and channel-owner payouts.

Those terms gave TON a structural claim on every financial transaction running through Telegram's platform. What the early-May post added was a governance layer on top of that commercial position. The practical effect of the January deal became apparent only once Telegram began building the product stack to exploit it.

Market Impact

TON Pay launched in February 2026, institutional stablecoin access came through SCRYPT in April, embedded wallet infrastructure arrived via Dynamic and Fireblocks in late March, and sub-second finality went live on mainnet in April, cutting confirmation times from roughly ten seconds to approximately one second, with blocks arriving every 400 milliseconds. Those releases assembled an in-app payments architecture fast enough to feel invisible inside a chat window. Distribution, data, and more to cover TON's payments thesis shows that consumer crypto adoption wins by embedding inside surfaces where users already spend time.

This argument becomes a product roadmap when Telegram's 1 billion-plus active users are on that surface. Durov's announcement provided traders with a specific trigger, but the trade was a bet that Telegram could convert its user base into a payment network, with TON as the settlement layer. DefiLlama showed $152.

9 million in decentralized exchange volume for the seven days ended May 7, up 1,054% week-over-week, and $12. 4 million in perpetuals volume over the same period, up 3,200%. 48 million for a single day.

Crypto markets are watching this development closely as investors weigh its potential impact on prices.