Telegram will begin testing its blockchain platform in the fall

Telegram's own blockchain platform, for which Pavel Durov's company raised $1.7 billion from investors, will be launched in test mode this fall, told Telegram investors in a special mailing in early September. Experts say Telegram's report looks like the company is "going to build its own internet."

Details

• The letter says that Telegram has completed the development of "most of the critical components" needed to launch a test version of its Telegram Open Network (TON) platform. The launch should take place “later this fall.”
• The “TON development status” is divided into three main stages, the developers explained. The first one is the creation of TON Virtual Machine (TVM), a blockchain component necessary for the operation of smart contracts. It is 95% ready and fully tested. The second stage describes the protocols for creating the TON network, which is a blockchain component required to transmit requests (for example, transactions) and distribute new blocks over the network. The third stage is the blockchain network itself, the mechanism for creating new blocks. Work on the last two elements is largely complete, and blockchain development is now in an active stage, the developers write.
• According to a newspaper source familiar with the development of TON, the written part of the system is a new, almost completely decentralized way to exchange data. Already over these protocols, the blockchain itself will be created, and in principle, TON will be ready to launch, he points out.
• The greatest questions are raised by the high assessment of the readiness of the first component, TVM, since the main competence of the Telegram team is not related to “virtual machines,” Kirill Ivkushkin, chief architect of the developer of decentralized applications for business insolar.io, told Vedomosti. In his opinion, the “virtual machine” was not described in the TON white paper in too much detail, and the functionality may eventually turn out to be simpler than, for example, the Ethereum system, which will not allow creating complex applications on it.
• TON developers wrote many protocols from scratch, the Telegram report looks like the messenger is going to create its own Internet, Aleksey, head of development of the consortium of developers of the banking blockchain platform R3 (unites Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, UBS, etc.) in the CIS, told Vedomosti Blagirev. However, during the testing phase of the blockchain, developers may encounter unforeseen difficulties and problems with network scalability, he warns.

Context

• The development of Telegram’s own blockchain platform became known in autumn-winter: in January, got a white paper (memorandum) of the project $1.7 billion from investors for this project into the network. The messenger has already raised within two closed ICO rounds. Telegram originally planned to raise $3 billion, and it was assumed that the messenger would hold an open ICO round, which never took place.
• On the basis of TON, Telegram promises to create a payment system integrated into the messenger and the Gram cryptocurrency. In the offering prospectus, the company promised that its payment system would become a competitor to Visa and Mastercard. You can read more about how TON will work here .
• In May, Vedomosti wrote that Telegram was privately testing the first service of the future blockchain platform, Telegram Passport, which allows you to identify the identity of the messenger user. The new service will allow transferring personal data to Telegram partner services that the user uploads to the messenger. After that, it will be possible to use the services of these services both inside Telegram and on the websites of the services.
• about their investments spoke The identities of the Telegram ICO investors were not publicly disclosed, however, among the Russians , the founder of Qiwi Sergey Solonin (invested $17 million) and the former co-owner of Wimm-Bill-Dann David Yakobashvili ($10 million) . Both were willing to invest more, but did not receive permission from Pavel Durov.
• The Recode publication also named Yuri Milner among investors. According to the Financial Times, three key Silicon Valley venture capital funds — Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Benchmark and Sequoia Capital — invested $20 million in ICOs.

Artem Gubenko