Southeast Asia Becomes the Beating Heart of the TON Ecosystem
From headline keynotes in Manila to strategic aspect occasions in Kuala Lumpur, TON’s presence at current Southeast Asian conferences has been each seen and intentional. In our dialog, Alena, Director of Ecosystem Success, and Josephine, Head of SSEA Hub, mirrored on how these gatherings have accelerated developer outreach, neighborhood constructing, and ecosystem progress, setting the stage for TON’s subsequent chapter in the area.
How would you assess TON’s general expertise at Philippine Blockchain Week 2025 and different current occasions like Malaysia Blockchain Week? What key targets have been achieved at these conferences?
Philippine Blockchain Week 2025 – Key Takeaways
Experience Assessment:
TON was prominently featured on stage — each in a panel dialogue with Kaia, Polkadot, and Tether, and a solo keynote introducing our TON Hub and the focus areas for TON in 2025.
Additional publicity got here by way of an academic session hosted by Cryptology Academy, participating blockchain college students and builders.
Objectives Achieved:
Developer Outreach: Held conversations with main developer communities (Bitskwela, Web3Bulacan, Mr. Meric, and so on.) to plan dev onboarding initiatives.
Ecosystem Promotion: Presented TON-native use circumstances like Aliniex (native on-ramp), Storm Trade (main perp DEX), and NFT Telegram items and Stickers as the key narrative.
KOL Engagement: Connected with dozens of native content material creators and KOLs.
Regulatory Insights: Discussed market constraints with Tether’s native workforce, which was helpful in shaping how we place TON in the Philippines.
Malaysia Blockchain Week – Key Takeaways
Experience Assessment:
TON secured a keynote talking slot and media publicity by way of MYBW’s official channel.
Actively engaged in high-value aspect occasions (Pudgy Penguin, and so on.) and held strategic 1:1 conferences with buyers, incubators, media, and scholar orgs.
Objectives Achieved:
Project Pipeline: Connected with a number of promising groups (GameFi, DeFi, sticker apps) and shared TON onboarding sources.
Strategic Relationships: Built relationships with main gamers like Plutus VC, Outlier Ventures, CH90, APU BCC, and Lydian Labs (who will promote TON to incubated tasks).
Student Dev Access: Initiated collaboration with APU Blockchain Club, a key gateway to college devs in Malaysia.
We achieved robust speaker visibility on each the major phases and aspect occasions, guaranteeing constant publicity all through. Across each markets, we engaged with dozens of builders and communities, whereas additionally constructing out native KOL and influencer networks, notably round NFTs and Mini Apps. In addition, we strengthened {our relationships} with prime regional VCs, incubators, and media shops. Finally, the occasions offered useful market insights, together with developer ratios, the evolving regulatory local weather, and the affect of content material creators.
Which TON initiatives or merchandise generated the most curiosity amongst attendees and contributors?
Telegram Assets (NFTs, Gifts, Mini Apps)
TON Gifts and NFT-related use circumstances (e.g. Tonnel, Getgems) drew robust consideration, particularly from content material creators, buying and selling communities, and NFT influencers.
At each occasions, Mini App Games have been a recurring level of pleasure — a number of KOLs and tasks expressed curiosity in constructing or selling Telegram-integrated video games and sticker apps on TON.
DeFi on TON
Products like StormTrade and discussions round DeFi verticals have been well-received, notably in Malaysia, the place DeFi protocols and merchants dominated the occasion panorama.
Attendees at DeFi-focused aspect occasions (like Bagel Finance’s meetup) confirmed curiosity in TON’s rising DeFi ecosystem and its Telegram-native UX benefit.
TON Payments & On/Off-Ramps
Solutions like Aliniex (PH) and AquaNow (MY) sparked deeper conversations round funds, on-chain usability, and native fiat ramps.
The dialogue with Tether’s Philippines workforce highlighted each the want and alternative for compliant, seamless fee rails on TON in rising markets.
What would you say about TON’s core mission right now, and the way is it totally different from the early days?
In 2025, TON’s deep integration with Telegram is enabling a brand new variety of digital expertise the place funds, apps, digital belongings, and AI are seamlessly woven into on a regular basis chats. By embedding wallets, mini apps, and digital possession immediately into conversations, TON makes it attainable for customers to entry monetary providers, utilities, and alternatives multi functional place: Telegram.
In the early days, the basis was laid with core infrastructure: wallets like @pockets, Tonkeeper, MyTonWallet, and protocols similar to DeDust, STON.fi, Tonstakers, and EVAA, together with the first wave of video games. This was adopted by a surge of mass adoption in 2024 with the rise of Tap2Earn apps like Notcoin, DOGS, and Catizen — every surpassing 20M customers, many of whom got here on-chain for the first time.
This 12 months, our focus is extra focused: we’re doubling down on 5 key areas — Payments, Simple Finance, Games, Telegram-native belongings (Gifts and Stickers), and Smart Agents. To help this imaginative and prescient, we’ve launched a extra strategic ecosystem help mannequin, providing hands-on assist in advertising, fundraising, product partnerships, and past to groups constructing sustainable, high-impact apps on TON.
Looking again, what are TON’s greatest achievements in Southeast Asia to this point, and the way have these formed your technique for 2025?
Builder-Focused Ecosystem Growth
We launched two editions of IdeaTON, TON’s flagship hackathon in Southeast Asia, which attracted over 70 venture submissions and a whole lot of developer contributors. Beyond the hackathons, we hosted on-line workshops, coding classes, and builder calls throughout Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and India—laying the basis for a powerful native builder neighborhood.
Our presence prolonged to main offline occasions as properly, with talking engagements at Philippines Blockchain Week, Malaysia Blockchain Week, and GM Vietnam. In collaboration with Phenikaa University, Tether, and OKX, we additionally co-hosted an offline occasion in Vietnam that introduced collectively 800 college students.
Deep Community & KOL Engagement
Built grassroots momentum by way of AMA classes, offline meetups in 4 nations, and localized content material efforts.
Cultivated robust ties with SEA-based KOLs, particularly in Vietnam and the Philippines—guaranteeing TON-native narratives attain the proper audiences.
Bootcamps
Have 3 Hacker League Bootcamp in 3 cities:
- HCMC;
- Bangkok;
- Manila.
We achieved robust speaker visibility on each the major phases and aspect occasions, guaranteeing constant publicity all through. Across each markets, we engaged with dozens of builders and communities, whereas additionally constructing out native KOL and influencer networks — notably round NFTs and Mini Apps. In addition, we strengthened {our relationships} with prime regional VCs, incubators, and media shops. Finally, the occasions offered useful market insights, together with developer ratios, the evolving regulatory local weather, and the affect of content material creators.
What are the most promising areas in the TON ecosystem proper now — DeFi, video games, social apps, identification?
We have fairly a transparent focus now: Payments, Simple Finance, Games, Telegram belongings (Gifts, stickers), and Smart brokers.
Payments
TON is shortly changing into a worldwide funds layer constructed immediately into Telegram, the place sending cash is so simple as sending a message: by @pockets in Telegram and the complete array of different ecosystem mini apps.
Beyond peer-to-peer transfers, we’re seeing actual traction throughout numerous use circumstances: cross-border remittances (Anzo), native on/off-ramps (Aliniex, Bitso), stablecoin funds for on-line providers, crypto playing cards for spending wherever (Holders, RedotPay), marketplaces with cashback and loyalty rewards (TONCash), and even real-world providers like reserving journey (EntravelX, TON Travel) or trip hailing (Linkroad). These use circumstances are already stay and fixing actual issues for on a regular basis customers.
Simple Finance
Traditionally, DeFi in Web3 has centered round attracting institutional and whale liquidity. TON has made robust progress on this area—TVL just lately hit all-time highs, pushed by rising institutional curiosity and integrations with custody suppliers, cross-chain bridges, and institutional-grade infrastructure. But TON’s actual edge lies in its integration into Telegram and entry to its +1 billion retail customers. This creates a uncommon alternative to construct a mass-market DeFi layer, centered not on complexity however on simplicity.
TON’s DeFi stack has been rising steadily since day one. Core protocols like STON.fi and DeDust (DEXs), Tonstakers (liquid staking), and EVAA (lending) laid the groundwork. They’ve since been joined by next-generation gamers like Torch (secure swaps and yield-bearing stablecoin tgUSD), TONCO (concentrated liquidity market maker), and Fiva (yield tokenization). These protocols are actually evolving to satisfy the wants of on a regular basis customers by launching Mini Apps with simplified, mobile-first interfaces.
We’re additionally seeing early DeFi gamers like Tradoor and Storm Trade — perpetual DEXs — optimizing their interfaces for mainstream, mobile-native customers. This is the route we imagine in: sensible, yield-generating merchandise delivered by consumer-grade UX.
To help this, we’re embedding actual belongings into these experiences: Ethena (as much as 18% APY, stay), Tether Gold (stay), Telegram bonds tokenized by Libre (upcoming), tgBTC (decentralized Bitcoin on TON, upcoming), and a number of other new stablecoins will quickly be obtainable. For customers, it means unlocking monetary alternative—not on a separate platform, however proper inside the messenger they use day by day.
Games
Telegram-native video games took off in 2024, proving the energy of chat-based distribution and social virality. Titles like Catizen, Bombie, and Cattea — initially launched on WeChat and now ported to Telegram — collectively reached 54M customers, generated $49M in income, and introduced 2.5M customers on-chain, with 1.1M paying gamers and ARPPU as high as $100.
As Tap2Earn codecs saturate, we’re shifting focus to the subsequent wave: social, hybrid, and mid-core video games designed for sustainability, robust monetization, and long-term retention.
Telegram-native belongings like stickers and items are additionally changing into highly effective instruments for consumer engagement and in-game monetization, creating new worth loops between chat, content material, and crypto. With no downloads, seamless chat integration, and native on-chain mechanics, the Telegram + TON stack affords an unprecedented distribution and monetization mannequin for recreation builders.
IP & Digital belongings
We’re turning Telegram into the residence of the international fan financial system by onboarding main IPs and reworking collectibles into full-fledged model ecosystems. It begins with Telegram-native belongings like items and stickers, which might now develop into NFTs with enforced royalties and in-app utility. From there, IPs can scale into video games and ultimately tokens. This mannequin — confirmed by ecosystems like Pudgy Penguins and LINE — lets manufacturers construct sticky, monetizable fandoms immediately on TON.
We’ve already seen early success: Pudgy Penguins launched a number of sticker packs and a mini recreation; BAYC, Doodles, and Pucca debuted collectible sticker units; and Snoop Dogg launched a Telegram Gift assortment ($12M in gross sales over <1h) — with many extra IP drops coming quickly. New sticker marketplaces are additionally launching, unlocking secondary gross sales and extra income streams for creators and types. With Telegram’s unmatched attain, TON’s composability, and community-led execution, we’re giving international IPs the best, most rewarding method to activate digital fandom — beginning with collectibles and scaling towards brand-owned economies.
Smart brokers
AI turns into much more highly effective when embedded immediately into chat. Telegram is the good atmosphere: it’s the place customers already speak, transact, and launch apps — making it a pure residence for sensible brokers. We’re seeing a brand new class of AI-powered bots that assist customers make investments, store, or automate duties — all backed by TON’s crypto rails. AI isn’t changing interfaces right here; it’s enhancing them, providing a frictionless layer of utility that supercharges engagement throughout the ecosystem.
Could you give us a sneak peek at any main product launches, strategic partnerships, or ecosystem expansions that TON has deliberate for 2025?
TON has an thrilling roadmap for 2025, spanning DeFi, safety, interoperability, and branded digital belongings.
On the DeFi entrance, we’re increasing the vary of accessible, yield-generating belongings built-in into Telegram. Ethena is already stay throughout main TON wallets, providing as much as 18% APY. Tether Gold has launched as an asset which appeals to and is understandable for a web2 investor. Coming quickly: Telegram bonds tokenized by Libre, tgBTC (TON’s decentralized Bitcoin), and new stablecoins, together with yield-bearing ones – all designed to plug seamlessly into easy, Telegram-native funding apps.
We’re additionally doubling down on safety, working intently with prime audit corporations like Trail of Bits and Zellic to strengthen the security and reliability of core infrastructure and DeFi protocols throughout the ecosystem.
On interoperability, we’ll be asserting main developments quickly that may make it even simpler to attach TON with different networks and ecosystems.
In the IP and digital collectibles area, we’re welcoming some of the world’s most iconic manufacturers. Pudgy Penguins have already launched sticker packs and a mini recreation on Telegram. Other main names like BAYC, Doodles, and Pucca have launched sticker collections on Sticker Pack — main sticker retailer on Telegram, whereas Snoop Dogg’s Telegram Gift assortment is stay — with extra celeb and IP drops on the method. We’re additionally seeing the emergence of new Telegram sticker marketplaces, unlocking creator monetization and collectible buying and selling at scale.
This is the 12 months when TON moved from foundational infrastructure to full-fledged client adoption throughout verticals.
Why is Southeast Asia such a key area for TON? What makes it strategically necessary in your view?
Telegram-Native Population
SEA is one of the most lively Telegram areas globally, with thousands and thousands of customers counting on it each day for social, enterprise, and crypto communication.
This aligns completely with TON’s mission to develop into the blockchain layer of Telegram — bringing native pockets, funds, and apps on to customers the place they already are.
Mobile-First, Social-Driven Behavior
Users in SEA are mobile-first and socially engaged, making them splendid adopters for click-to-earn, Mini Apps, and socialFi merchandise constructed on TON.
The virality and neighborhood dynamics right here help quick adoption of new apps—particularly meme cash, video games, and gamified experiences.
Rapid Crypto Adoption & Grassroots Growth
Countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia are consistently among the top in international crypto adoption indexes.
The consumer base is younger, curious, and open to experimentation—particularly when monetary instruments are embedded inside acquainted platforms like Telegram.
Strong Developer & Builder Base
SEA has a rising wave of blockchain builders, many already constructing on Ethereum, Solana, or BNB Chain.
TON’s Mini App framework affords these devs a new frontier to faucet into Telegram’s 1B+ customers, making SEA splendid for bootstrapping the ecosystem.
Regulatory Diversity & Strategic Flexibility
Unlike areas with heavy crypto restrictions, SEA affords a combine of progressive and adaptive regulatory environments — enabling testing and scaling of new apps.
Southeast Asia represents greater than only a fast-growing area — it’s the splendid product-market match for TON. The space combines high Telegram utilization, speedy adoption curves, and robust builder power with a cultural affinity for memes, video games, and community-first tasks. TON views Southeast Asia as the launchpad for mainstream Web3 adoption inside Telegram and is directing sources, occasions, and partnerships to speed up this imaginative and prescient.
With Vietnam rising as the subsequent main cease for TON, what can we anticipate in phrases of upcoming occasions, activations, or neighborhood progress there?
1. Major On-Ground Activations
City-based Roadshows:
Mini-events in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and presumably Da Nang, centered on native dev teams, scholar communities, and Web3 startups.
2. Developer & Builder Programs
IdeaTON Vietnam Track:
A devoted native version of the TON hackathon, with Vietnamese devs competing, studying Mini App improvement, and becoming a member of the TON ecosystem.
University & Guild Outreach:
Partnerships with tech universities, coding golf equipment, and dev guilds to run workshops and boot camps, in addition to sponsor blockchain programs with TON integration.
3. Gaming, Meme, and SocialFi Focus
Tapping into Vietnam’s robust meme coin tradition and gaming urge for food, anticipate localized campaigns round TON Mini App video games, meme coin launches, and NFT/TON Gift integrations.
Support for native groups to construct viral click-to-earn video games inside Telegram utilizing TON SDKs.
4. Community Growth & KOL Engagement
Expansion of the SSEA Hub, providing rewards, content material creation bounties, and internet hosting AMAs to activate native customers.
Closer collaboration with prime Vietnamese KOLs, particularly these in buying and selling, gaming, and Telegram-native niches.
Why Vietnam Matters
Vietnam combines one of the world’s highest crypto adoption rates with a thriving younger developer neighborhood and deep integration into Telegram tradition. Its meme-loving, gaming-driven viewers makes the nation an excellent launchpad for TON’s “Telegram x Web3” technique in Asia.
How is consumer habits or crypto adoption totally different in SEA in comparison with different markets, and the way are you adapting to that?
How SEA Differs from Other Markets
1. Telegram = Primary Channel
In SEA, Telegram is not only a chat app—it’s the place customers uncover tasks, commerce suggestions, be a part of communities, and work together with bots/video games. In distinction, Western markets rely extra on X (Twitter), Discord, or Web3-native frontends.
2. Mobile-First, Fast-Adopting
SEA customers are mobile-native and extra open to making an attempt new traits (e.g., click-to-earn video games, meme tokens, gamified DeFi). Speed of adoption is high—pushed by social virality, KOL affect, and neighborhood dynamics.
3. Community-First, Not Infra-First
Users in SEA care extra about rewards, accessibility, and enjoyable, much less about technical specs like TPS or consensus fashions. Projects that really feel relatable and interactive (meme cash, prediction video games, mini apps) develop sooner than infra or tooling-focused ones.
4. Retail-Dominant & Grassroots
SEA is bottom-up: pushed by merchants, KOLs, and tight-knit Telegram teams—not establishments or huge VC narratives. Memes, traits, and peer affect are extra highly effective than roadmap milestones.
How TON Is Adapting to SEA Behavior
Building Inside Telegram
Launching and supporting Mini Apps, wallets, and video games immediately inside Telegram—the place SEA customers already stay.
Meme & Game-Friendly Strategy
Prioritizing meme coin instruments, viral video games, and TON-native NFTs/Gifts that talk to SEA tradition.
Localized Community Building
Activating native guilds, ambassadors, and KOLs in Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Running workshops, builder calls, and AMAs in native languages and time zones.
Reward-Based Onboarding
Focusing on “earn to onboard” experiences (clickers, airdrops, referral bonuses) that resonate with the incentive-first habits in SEA.
Are there particular nations in SEA — similar to Vietnam, the Philippines, or Malaysia — the place you propose to double down in 2025? What drives these decisions?
Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia have been strategically chosen as focus markets as a consequence of a mix of high Telegram utilization, robust grassroots crypto adoption, and rising meme, gaming, and developer communities. Vietnam persistently ranks amongst the prime nations for crypto adoption, with a extremely Telegram-native and meme-friendly tradition, a powerful developer expertise pool, and an lively hackathon scene.
Planned initiatives embody large-scale offline occasions, college outreach, an IdeaTON monitor, and partnerships with native dev guilds to launch meme and gaming campaigns. The Philippines stands out as an early adopter of play-to-earn and Web3 cell video games, with Telegram being a central communication and gaming platform.
The market is very retail-driven, supported by instructional orgs like Bitskwela and Web3Bulacan. Post-PBW 2025, there can be a concentrate on onboarding extra builders, selling localized meme cash and TON Gifts, and activating KOLs by Mini App video games.
Indonesia affords one of the largest mobile-first, Gen Z consumer bases in Southeast Asia, with high crypto curiosity and robust natural progress by Telegram and TikTook. Local tasks are starting to discover TON integrations, and deliberate efforts embody developer and neighborhood meetups, localized campaigns, KOL partnerships, and academic gaming content material.
Meanwhile, Malaysia is rising as a regulatory-friendly hub for Web3 startups, with a developer neighborhood that’s fluent in English and related to each SEA and broader APAC ecosystems. Key plans embody strategic ecosystem partnerships, integration into universities and workshops, and internet hosting hybrid Web3 x Telegram occasions.
Across all 4 markets, the driving components for focus embody high Telegram density, maturity of meme and dev cultures, robust retail crypto adoption, profitable occasion traction in 2024–2025, and a regulatory atmosphere that permits for innovation in wallets, NFTs, DeFi, and TON Gifts.
What tech or crypto pattern do you assume is method overrated, and what’s one thing underrated that TON is betting on as a substitute?
One pattern we imagine is overrated is the obsession with over-engineered, complicated crypto experiences — whether or not that’s hyper-financialized DeFi protocols, speculative gaming economies, or multi-step onboarding flows that solely attraction to energy customers. These fashions usually chase short-term hype however fail to transform actual customers or ship lasting worth.
At TON, we’re betting on what’s nonetheless underrated in the broader crypto area: radical simplicity and native integration into on a regular basis consumer habits. Instead of constructing round friction, we’re embedding actual utility immediately inside Telegram—the place individuals already spend their time. That means seamless funds, 1-click DeFi, chat-native mini apps, and unique Telegram items and stickers that unlock solely new digital experiences and monetization fashions. These aren’t simply gimmicks — they’re laying the basis for a extra intuitive and accessible web powered by crypto, for a whole lot of thousands and thousands of individuals.
If you needed to outline success for TON over the subsequent 3–5 years, what would that seem like, past consumer numbers and TVL?
Success for TON isn’t nearly hitting huge consumer numbers or TVL milestones — it’s about changing into invisible infrastructure for on a regular basis digital life. If in 3–5 years, 2 out of 3 mates are carrying an NFT reward on their Telegram profile, sending cash as simply as a message, or enjoying a recreation that’s absolutely on-chain with out even realizing it — then we’ve achieved our job.
Our north star is easy: to make crypto so simple as sending a message. It ought to simply work — natively, seamlessly, and socially — inside the platforms individuals already love, like Telegram. When customers work together with TON-powered apps not as a result of they’re Web3, however as a result of they’re higher, extra enjoyable, or extra rewarding — that’s actual success.
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