Domain TON.ORG and the TON project repository was transferred to the open source developers community

The Telegram team agreed to transfer the domain ton.org and the repository to open-source to the developer community in response to their open letter:

«We are glad to see the high level of continued interest from the community to support and develop the TON technology.

Since Telegram itself no longer has any involvement in the project and we no longer use related resources, we are therefore ready to consider their transfer to a representative of the community to be utilized going forward.», — TON team wrote in GitHub.

At the address ton.org there is already new information from The Open Network team and an announcement.

Previously, the community that has now taken over the management of the domain and repository was called Newton, now it is called The Open Network. Developers from different countries have joined together to continue working on the technology.

In May, the testnet2 test network became the main one.

Pavel Durov wishes best to the maintainers of the Toncoin project

The founder of Telegram and the TON project, Pavel Durov, explained what happened to TON after the Telegram team abandoned the project, cut any relations and disowned it.

In the post, Pavel tells how he hoped other developers will keep developing the project and how Telegram Contest champions took the project to keep working on it, by rebranding it as Toncoin. He insisted again that Telegram is not related to Toncoin by any means, but he still hopes it will succeed.

New services from TON COIN and possible integration into Telegram

The team that develops the Toncoin cryptocurrency promises to introduce several new services by the end of 2022 - for storing files, bypassing locks, transferring funds, etc. These services were supposed to become part of Durov's TON blockchain project.

A source close to the Telegram team confirmed to Telegram Info that the messenger team does not rule out the possibility of integrating the aforementioned services into Telegram if they are launched.

Earlier, Durov raised the cost of Toncoin by almost 50% by supporting the developers of the altcoin. In January 2022, its price jumped again thanks to Morgenstern. The artist invested 10 million rubles in cryptocurrency.

According to the plans, the TON Payments payment system will be launched first, after that - a service for bypassing TON Proxy locks, TON Storage, an analogue of the anonymous Tor network - TON Sites and other products, Oleg Andreev, developer of the Tonkeeper crypto wallet, told Forbes.

In the near future, Andrey Rogozov, Vice President for Social Platforms of VK, should join the TON Foundation.

forbes.ru/tekhnologii/452443-pohoze-na-internet-90-h-kak-budut-rabotat-servisy-ton-ot-posledovatelej-durova

The TON investor lost the lawsuit against Telegram - he demanded to return $280 thousand, and now he must pay $700 thousand

In court, the plaintiff insisted that he had “hurriedly” decided to invest in TON and did not receive documents listing the risks from Telegram. The arbitration decided that Chuprin either got acquainted with these documents, because they were freely available, or "understood all the risks, and it did not bother him." Also, in the signed agreement on the purchase of the Gram cryptocurrency, it is indicated that he has read the information about the risks.

The court concluded that Zotobi "obviously would have been better off accepting Telegram's alternative offer" for a loan. But Zotobi "wasn't sure about the safety of the money."

The court rejected all Zotobi's claims and demanded to cover Telegram's legal costs for $700,000 and court costs for £55.9 thousand.

forbes.ru/tekhnologii/461349-investor-v-ton-proigral-sud-v-londone-protiv-telegram (Russian language)

Integration of the TON wallet into the Telegram client

Thanks to WebApp bots, the @wallet service has implemented the integration of the wallet into the attachments of Telegram clients.

Now you can transfer Toncoin cryptocurrency to users directly from the messenger. Without long wallet addresses, commissions and waiting for transaction confirmation.

We already wrote earlier that probably the entire Web bot platform was created specifically for the integration of TON Coin with Telegram.

Integrate wallet: t.me/wallet?attach=wallet

Pavel Durov intends to deeply integrate the TON cryptocurrency into Telegram

The founder of the messenger was admired by the success of the TON Foundation and shared his opinion that having a Telegram user base, the cryptocurrency could achieve more.

Durov described scenarios such as the transfer of @username's using smart contracts in cryptocurrency, as well as the creation of stickers and emojis, which would form a market based on TON.

In 2020, the US Securities Commission banned the issuance of the TON cryptocurrency. After that, Telegram officially disowned the platform, and stopped participating in its development.

Since then, the TON Foundation has been organized, which officially has no ties to Telegram, although it is apparently in close alliance with the messenger team. The cryptocurrency from this organization is positioned as independent of Telegram and created by the community of enthusiasts in order to circumvent the prohibitions of the American regulator. Telegram intends to integrate TON into its application in such a way that it looks like the TON team independently brings its services to the messenger in a partner way.

Judging by the reaction of users to the post, most do not welcome the introduction of elements of the "Web3" philosophy into Telegram. Earlier it was already proposed to integrate NFT into the messenger, to which the audience of the messenger also reacted negatively.

TON was an original attempt to monetize Telegram. Given that the messenger now has an advertising platform and a paid subscription, it's hard to say how ready Pavel Durov is to go against the interests of users for the sake of another source of income.

P2P Market in @wallet

Bot now supports a new P2P Market feature. You can now trade directly with other @wallet users, with us acting as the guarantor of the transaction.

@wallet currently support six different fiat currencies: USD, EUR, RUB, UAH, BYN and KZT. Several convenient payment methods are available for each one.

You can already create an advertisement to sell, and if you want to buy cryptocurrency, you can check the marketplace for advertisements from other users.

You can find the new P2P Market section in @wallet interface.

Telegram will launch username auction soon

An official Telegram channel announced the end of the development phase of the platform for buying and selling unique and recognizable usernames, which Pavel Durov spoke about earlier.

“Make sure you don't miss your chance to acquire the most valuable usernames and secure your ownership of them in the TON blockchain’s immutable ledger”, the Telegram team said.

Telegram announces Smart Contract Cracking Competition

The Task is to identify potential vulnerabilities and issues in the smart contract that would form the basis of the Telegram Auction Platform.

Evaluation Criteria and Prize Fund Distribution:
Bounties are dependent on the severity of the discovered issues and could potentially range from $200 for minor code adjustments to $50,000 for major flaws – like behavior that could bypass the smart contract's logic and conditions in order to reassign ownership of assets.

Prize fund: Up to $100,000
Deadline: 18:00 on October 25th (Dubai time)

Details: in this document and on the official channel.

#contest

Telegram usernames auction: details

Very soon Telegram will launch the Telegram Auction Platform, deployed in the TON blockchain, where users will be able to buy and sell short nicknames in the messenger.

Some details have become known:
• All usernames will be sold as TON-based NFTs.
• The usernames can be stored in cryptocurrencies and put up for sale both on marketplaces and on the official Telegram platform.
• The Telegram Auction Platform mechanism echoes the TON DNS auction mechanism: bidding for a nickname starts when the user makes the first bid. Each auction will be limited in time.
• No need to renew domains.

Recall that Telegram is holding a competition to crack the smart contract of the auction platform.

The release of the platform will take place in the very near future.

Telegram usernames auction launched

The fragment.com platform and the @fragment bot for bid notifications became available.

On the site, users can buy and sell usernames in the messenger, including short ones (e.g. @cars, @fifa, @dior).

Usernames starting from A to H are now available on the market. The rest (from I to Z) will appear within a year.

As we wrote on our channel @infotonen, usernames will be sold as NFTs based on TON. They can be stored in cryptocurrency wallets and put up for sale both on marketplaces and on the official Telegram platform.

Pavel Durov confirmed the launch of Fragment platform

In his Telegram channel, Pavel Durov announced the launch of Fragment, a platform for buying and selling Telegram usernames.

Previously, Durov stated that in a few days, Telegram will give users the ability to sell their existing usernames in the Fragment auction.

"For the first time in the history of social media, a fair, transparent market for usernames is established. Finally people will have ownership over their social media addresses, secured in the immutable ledger of a decentralized blockchain network.

This is just the beginning, and yet an important milestone – the power has started to shift into users' hands." — Durov said.

Selling usernames at the Fragment auction

It has become possible to sell any username in Telegram through an auction on the Fragment site.

To sell, you will need to log in using your Telegram account and link your TON wallet. Next, you place the first bid, from which the auction will start. The minimum bet is 10 TON.

On the Fragment website, there is a "My usernames" button in your account. The "Non-Collectible Usernames" section displays all your usernames - your account, your groups and channels.

When someone places a large bid, you will be refunded the amount of the original bid. However, if there are no more bets, you will get your bet back minus a commission of 5% and 5 TON.

In the event that someone outbids you, you will receive 95% of the highest bid plus your original bid.

It is forbidden to sell blocked usernames at the auction.

Fragment ads from Telegram

The messenger's official service notification account has sent out information to users about the possibility of buying and selling usernames through the Fragment platform.

Currently, the platform hosts 1,358 unique usernames, 315 of them have already been bought at auction.

Telegram continues to promote the username auction

In the recent update Telegram for iOS version 9.1.1 began offering to buy usernames on the Fragment auction. It happens when the user tries to assign a username that was revoked in the recent purge.

Currently only usernames starting from A to Q are available. If you try to assign a name that isn't on the auction yet, a default error is shown.

This is the first time the auction has been mentioned inside the app, apart from the mass messages coming from a service account.

#auction

Selling username without a starting bid

Fragment has changed the rules of usernames bidding. Now the user does not have to make the first bid to start bidding.

This is primarily useful for those who wanted to sell their usernames but could not put them on the site for fear of losing 5 TON + 5% of the sale. Also, it may also be of interest to those who want to buy an address, as there is no time limit of 1 week before the initial bid is set.

It is important that the first bid is still needed to get to the main page of the auction, without this action, the username is available only through the search, but can already be bought by anyone.

#auction

Fragment ads from Telegram

«The messenger's official service notification account has sent out information to users about the possibility of buying and selling usernames through the Fragment platform.

Telegram users can now list their usernames on Fragment for free without placing a starting bid:

• Once listed, the username will remain available for auction for an unlimited time – until the first bid is placed.
• A 7-day auction starts when anyone places the first bid.
• After the auction ends, the platform fee and a one-time conversion fee will be deducted from the proceeds.

Learn more: https://fragment.com/about#auctioning-basic-usernames

If you already own a collectible username, you can sell it or start a new auction at any time – without paying the conversion fee.»

Recall that only names starting with A and up to Q are still available at the auction.

#auction

Telegram discloses the names, phone numbers and IP addresses of the users administrating piracy channels to Indian authorities

According to a Delhi High Court order, Telegram has disclosed the details of the administrators of piracy channels that published training material of Campus Private Limited and its teacher Nitu Singh for various exams. The judge rejected the messenger's arguments that the servers where the information was stored were located in Singapore and did not fall under Indian jurisdiction.

Later, on August 30, the Delhi High Court demanded that the names, phone numbers and IP addresses of those local channel administrators accused of distributing pirated content be handed over to Indian authorities.

Telegram Info has several Indian channels:
— Hindi @tginfohi
— Malayalam @tginfoml
— Bengali @tginfobn
— Tamil @tginfota
— Kannada @tginfokn

We are looking for native speakers who can volunteer to work on these branches. If you're interested, write to us @infowritebot

#India

Pavel Durov spoke about the future of Telegram and decentralization

In his Telegram channel, Pavel Durov said about the blockchain industry, decentralization and the future of Telegram.

Here are brief theses:
• The blockchain industry was built on the promise of decentralization, but ended up being concentrated in the hands of a few who began to abuse their power. (He also mentioned FTX bankrupt, ed.)
• Cryptocurrency users should switch to trustless transactions and self-hosted wallets that don't rely on any single third party.
• It took only 5 weeks and 5 people including myself to put together Fragment — a fully decentralized auction platform.
• Fragment has been an amazing success, with 50 million USD worth of usernames sold there in less than a month and this week, Fragment will expand beyond usernames (Probably anonymous numbers, ed.)
• Telegram's next step is to build a set of decentralized tools, including non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges for millions of people to securely trade and store cryptocurrencies. This way we can fix the wrongs caused by the excessive centralization, which let down hundreds of thousands of cryptocurrency users.

New @wallet updates

Updated “Send” feature allows you to send TON not only to your Telegram contacts but also to any TON address, including short TON DNS names (.ton).

In addition, developers drastically simplified access to your wallet address. You can find it and your QR code in a few taps via the “Receive” button.