Review of 10 TON Investment Institutions: Lowest Entry Cost Below $0.78, Highest Return Rate May Exceed 14 Times

Author: Nancy, PANews

After years of ups and downs, TON has now entered the top ten in cryptocurrency market capitalization. The rapid growth in user base, funding scale, and token price has made it one of the stronger crypto projects in this bull market.

The transformation of TON into a "thoroughbred" is inseparable from the keen eye of its "Bole." According to CoinCarp data, TON has completed seven rounds of financing to date, but only two rounds totaling $16 million have been publicly disclosed, while the remaining five rounds have not revealed more information. Among the participating institutions, investors include Runa Capital, RTP Global, DWF Labs, Mask Network, Mexc Ventures, Animoca Brands, Mirana Ventures, and Pantera Capital. Compared to other public chain projects, TON has more Web 2 participants and relatively fewer leading crypto VCs. From the official financing timeline, TON, established in 2018, received its first investment in 2021, with the most rounds of financing occurring in 2023, totaling three rounds.

In this article, PANews reviews the financing scale, investment costs, and return rates of ten disclosed TON investment institutions. The investment amounts from these VCs range from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars, with the lowest entry cost being less than $0.78 and the highest return rate exceeding 14 times.

Runa Capital and RTP Global

Runa Capital is a technology-focused venture capital firm valued at $270 million, primarily investing in fintech, education, digital healthcare, and other sectors, with its portfolio companies' assets exceeding $10 billion. TON is the only blockchain company to receive direct funding from Runa Capital since its establishment. RTP Global, which focuses on early-stage tech companies, was one of the first to provide financial and expert support to major European tech companies like Yandex and Delivery Hero, with a portfolio of 183 companies, including 15 unicorns.

In April 2021, TON announced a $6 million seed round financing led by RTP Global and Runa Capital. According to Alexander Filatov, co-founder of TON Labs, this financing was completed in 2022, indicating that the investment from these two institutions was below the $0.78 price point in August 2021, resulting in a return rate exceeding 9.9 times.

Pantera Capital

In May 2024, crypto VC Pantera Capital, managing over $5 billion in assets, announced its investment in TON, marking the largest investment in the fund's history. They stated, "We believe TON has the ability to promote cryptocurrency to the public because it is widely used within the Telegram network," and further explained their reasons for heavily investing in TON. Although Pantera Capital did not disclose the specific amount or the price discount at which it purchased, it previously revealed that it bought up to $250 million worth of discounted SOL tokens from the FTX Estate, suggesting that its investment in TON would exceed this amount.

At the end of June, an email sent by Pantera Capital to potential investors indicated that the firm was raising a new fund to purchase more TON tokens, with a minimum investment of $250,000 per supporter. According to previous disclosures, Pantera Fund V is set to launch its first fundraising round in the first quarter of 2025, aiming for $1 billion.

Kingsway Capital

Manuel Stotz, founder and CEO of Kingsway Capital, is a board member of the TON Foundation. The Block reported that Kingsway Capital's largest token holding is also TON, which it began purchasing over two years ago. From the price trends of TON between July 2021 and July 2022, Kingsway Capital's entry cost was no more than $4.5, with a low of about $0.55. According to CoinGecko data, as of July 1, the price of TON was $7.71, indicating that Kingsway Capital's return rate could be between 1.7 times and 14 times.

Ryze Labs

Founded in 2015, Ryze Labs was formerly known as Sino Global Capital, with a portfolio that includes Solana, LayerZero, Polygon, and Wintermute. Ryze Labs launched a $200 million fund in 2021, with the bankrupt FTX as its main investor. Ian Wittkopp, head of the TON Foundation, was previously the COO and investment director at Sino Global Capital.

In a report by The Block, Matthew Graham, founder and managing partner of Ryze Labs, revealed that Ryze has been a "big buyer" of TON tokens.

Animoca Brands

Animoca Brands announced a strategic investment in the TON ecosystem in November 2023 and became the largest validator on the TON blockchain, providing funding, research, and analytical platforms for third-party TON ecosystem mini-apps.

Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, revealed in an interview with The Block that the company began purchasing when the price of TON tokens was below $1, subsequently buying at prices of $1, $1.5, and $2. According to CoinGecko price trends, excluding early participants, Animoca Brands likely built its position between March 2022 and December 2022, as well as between May 2023 and September 2023, with current return rates between 3.85 times and 7.7 times.

Mirana Ventures

In March 2024, Mirana Ventures announced a new long-term partnership with TON, which included purchasing $8 million worth of TON on the secondary market. At that time, the price of TON was below $2.7, and as of July 1, 2024, the return rate exceeded 2.8 times.

DWF Labs

In November 2022, DWF Labs announced a commitment of $10 million to support the TON ecosystem, planning a total of 50 seed investments over the next 12 months. According to CoinGecko price data, the price of TON ranged from approximately $1.68 to $2.54 between November 2022 and November 2023, with current prices (as of July 1) indicating a return rate exceeding 3 times to 4.5 times. This year, TON also announced a partnership with DWF Labs and is seeking project partners and investors to develop games and SocialFi mini-apps on the TON blockchain.

Mask Network

Mask Network announced its investment in TON in May 2023 but did not disclose the amount. Based on the price of around $2 at that time, Mask Network's return rate exceeds 3.8 times. In the staking program launched this year, TON tokens were also included as rewards.

Mexc Ventures

Mexc Ventures announced a multi-million dollar investment in TON in October 2023 but did not disclose the specific amount. If calculated at the market price of $2 at that time, Mexc Ventures' return rate is approximately 3.8 times.

It is important to note that in the crypto space, VCs often have a certain lock-up period and adopt linear unlocking rather than a one-time sell-off.

Additionally, it is worth mentioning that TON previously raised $1.7 billion through multiple rounds of ICOs, with prices ranging from $0.37 to $1.33. A list submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by the SEC shows that investors include the $10 million investment from Norma Investments Limited, a fund under Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich, $15 million from Larnabel Ventures, the investment arm of Russian tycoon Mikhail Gutseriev and his family, Batios Holdings Limited, a fund of former Russian cabinet minister Abyzov, Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and Sergey Solonin, co-founder of the Russian payment giant Qiwi.

However, due to the SEC lawsuit, when TON announced the postponement of its mainnet launch to April 2022, it also stated that if investors disagreed, Telegram would refund 72% of the investment amount, or investors could lend their investment to Telegram as a loan and receive 110% of their original investment by April 30, 2021. If investors chose to retain their investment amount, the current return rate would be nearly 5.8 times to 20.8 times.