User growth path of the TON ecosystem: from social fission to traffic monetization

Author: Andrea Chang, Alan Cui, Oak Grove Ventures

In the rapid development of the blockchain field, the TON ecosystem stands out with its unique growth path. Drawing on the successful experience of WeChat Mini Programs, TON's MiniApps not only drive user expansion within the ecosystem but also provide innovative business models and effective traffic strategies for Web3 projects. These MiniApps demonstrate strong traffic capabilities on Telegram channels, enabling Web3 projects to quickly reach a broad user base. This article will delve into the rapid growth of the TON ecosystem, analyzing how it provides valuable business model references and traffic solutions for future Web3 users on Telegram and other Web2 channels, helping them succeed in an increasingly competitive market.

• Significant Growth of On-Chain Data in TON

Common indicators for assessing the growth level of the ecosystem include transaction volume, active addresses, smart contract development, total value locked (TVL), network fees, validator participation, token transfer volume, and MiniApp interactions. These indicators comprehensively reflect the development status and activity level of the ecosystem.

Source: https://www.tonstat.com/, as of September 30

User Acquisition Strategies on TON

Social Viral Growth: A Low-Cost and Efficient User Growth Strategy

Social viral growth is a highly effective user acquisition strategy, widely used on social platforms. By leveraging users' social networks, social viral growth achieves rapid user expansion through the spread of relationship chains. Compared to traditional advertising marketing, social viral growth is more cost-effective and persuasive, as users are more likely to trust recommendations from friends or family. Additionally, social viral growth utilizes network effects and viral mechanics to create exponential spread, leading to precise user growth. Users acquired through viral means often share similar interests, needs, and behavioral characteristics with the target audience, making the spread more effective. Furthermore, relying on frequently used social products increases user stickiness, allowing for more frequent engagement with these platforms and products.

Learning from WeChat's Viral Strategies

WeChat, as a successful example of social viral growth, provides rich reference experiences in areas such as Mini Program operations, external link management, and personal account usage for other platforms. Strategies that were once banned on WeChat can be reattempted on Telegram. By learning from WeChat's operational experiences, projects on Telegram can utilize these social viral strategies to achieve viral spread and rapid user growth.

Application Scenarios: Games

Depending on the complexity of the product and business, viral user acquisition methods can be categorized into several levels:

• Zero-cost online earning type: Attracting users through simple online earning mechanisms, such as Notcoin and Hamster Kombat, which have a user base of hundreds of millions and large channel subscribers on Telegram.

• Probability gaming type: Combining probability-based lottery viral mechanics, such as red envelope splitting, lucky wheels, and blind box openings, with typical projects like Catizen (cat raising) and TonGifts (red envelope distribution), which rely on social networks for rapid user spread.

• Casual gaming type: Attracting users through more complex gameplay and entertainment scenarios, such as Catizen and PixelTap (robot battles), where these casual mini-games increase user stickiness and engagement through deep user interaction.

Application Scenario: Memecoin

User acquisition strategies are not only applicable to traditional products but are also crucial in the promotion of Meme Coins. The diffusion path of Meme Coins can be likened to the difference between natural diamonds and synthetic diamonds. Natural Meme Coins spread spontaneously through the community, typically expanding from Reddit to Telegram or Discord, and then to broader social platforms. In contrast, synthetic Meme Coins achieve rapid viral spread internally within Telegram through social viral strategies.

To create a blockbuster Meme Coin, the key lies in the strategy of "great effort leads to miracles + encircling the city from the countryside," utilizing low-cost and high-impact social scenarios for promotion. A developer-friendly environment and fair design are also important factors in attracting users. Additionally, creating a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) encourages more participation, thus forming a strong consensus and user traffic.

These user acquisition strategies have played a significant role not only in the incubation of Meme Coins but also in providing strong momentum for user growth within the Telegram and TON ecosystems. This strategy opens up vast space for the future development of the Web3 ecosystem.

Phenomenal Success Case: Notcoin

Notcoin is a social clicker game (Clicker Apps) accessible via Telegram, which has rapidly attracted a large user base since its official launch on January 1, 2024. The game achieved astonishing data in just a few months: 40 million Telegram users, 8 million Telegram channel subscribers, and 6 million daily active users. Here are the key milestones in its development:

• January 1, 2024: Official launch of the game.
• January 26, 2024: Cumulative users reached 20 million.
• February 29, 2024: Co-branded event with Binance.
• March 8, 2024: Opened Pre-Market on Getgems, where 10M Notcoin points could be exchanged for an NFT voucher (equivalent to $10,000 $NOT).
• March 30, 2024: Announced token economics, stating that 100% of NOT tokens would be distributed to players.
• April 12, 2024: Ended game mining and announced the official economic model.
• May 16, 2024: Launched simultaneously on Binance, OKX, and Bybit.

The success of Notcoin can be attributed to three key factors:

• Demand from Telegram: Telegram needs a thriving ecosystem with numerous applications similar to WeChat Mini Programs, allowing developers to profit from them. Notcoin perfectly meets this demand.
• Demand from the TON Foundation: The TON Foundation needs to establish the utility and business model of the TON token by building an application ecosystem, and Notcoin serves as an ideal application scenario.
• Demand from exchanges: In the current market's bearish sentiment, exchanges urgently need new Web3 users, and Notcoin's large user base provides them with this opportunity.
• Demand from Web3 and Web2 users: Notcoin's success is also due to meeting the needs of different user groups, such as the fairness sought by experienced Web3 users and the desire for low barriers and high returns from newly entering Web2 users.

Moreover, Notcoin's success is also attributed to meeting the needs of different user groups, such as the fairness pursued by seasoned Web3 users and the desire for low barriers and high returns among new Web2 users.

Main Business Models of Telegram + TON

1. In-App Purchases (Virtual Value-Added)

This model, as the main revenue model for WeChat's mini-games, has given rise to several blockbuster paid products, such as "Sheep Game" in 2021.

As of Q2 2024, WeChat mini-games have surpassed 500 million monthly active users, with an estimated annual revenue of 40 billion RMB. The following chart shows the best-selling WeChat mini-games in June 2024:

Source: DataEye Research Institute

Similar to WeChat mini-games, in-app purchases have become a successful business model in the Telegram + TON ecosystem, especially in the gaming sector. Catizen is a typical representative of this model. Since its release in March 2024, Catizen has attracted over 50 million users in less than four months and generated over $20 million in revenue through in-app purchases. Notably, Catizen's success is not only reflected in its large user base but also in its high ARPU (average revenue per user). Additionally, 40% of Telegram Premium users are Catizen players, indicating a high degree of integration between virtual value-added services and social platforms, providing significant profit opportunities for developers.

2. Token Launch on Exchanges

Token launch on exchanges is another major business model in the Telegram + TON ecosystem, with the Notcoin project serving as a successful example of this model. Since its official launch in January 2024, Notcoin has rapidly accumulated 40 million users and successfully brought the NOT token to market through a series of events and strategic partnerships (such as the co-branded event with Binance and the Pre-Market on Getgems). This model not only helped Notcoin quickly expand its user base but also achieved a seamless transition from gaming to the financial market through its token economic model. Ultimately, Notcoin's token successfully listed on major exchanges like Binance, OKX, and Bybit, further solidifying its market position. In late September, Catizen and Hamster also successfully launched on exchanges.

3. Traffic Conversion - Sales and Joint Operation Incubation

Traffic Sales: An Efficient Monetization Strategy

In the Telegram + TON ecosystem, traffic sales have become an efficient and direct monetization strategy. Holdcoin, Tomarket, and Banana are representatives of this model, operating multiple projects daily by selling user traffic from Telegram channels and generating considerable income. Depending on the number, quality, and regional distribution of purchased users, the selling price per user on mainstream platforms ranges from $0.03 to $0.1. This model not only quickly generates cash flow but also provides convenient user acquisition channels for small and medium-sized projects.

Traffic Joint Operations: Incubating New Projects with Established Ecosystems

The traffic joint operation model, known as the "Cheetah Model," has been widely applied in the Telegram + TON ecosystem. Catizen's long-term plan includes this strategy, aiming to incubate 200 games that were once popular in the WeChat ecosystem. By leveraging existing user bases and traffic advantages, the traffic joint operation model helps these games quickly acquire users on Telegram and regain vitality. This model not only reduces the marketing costs for new projects but also significantly increases their success rates, allowing previously popular games to be revitalized in a new ecosystem.

Meme Incubation: Comprehensive Promotion from Community to Market

The meme incubation model is an extension of traffic sales and joint operations, combining the functionalities of launchpads and DEXs to provide a one-stop solution for Meme Coin projects from incubation to market promotion. Blum is one of the successful cases of this model, boasting 20 million Telegram channel users. Through Binance Labs' MVP program, the Blum project successfully promoted multiple Meme Coin projects in social platforms and the crypto market. The meme incubation model leverages Telegram's powerful social network and TON's blockchain technology, enabling emerging Meme projects to quickly attract community attention, gain initial traffic, and ultimately achieve trading on DEXs. This model not only promotes the spread of meme culture but also provides opportunities for investors and community members to participate in innovative projects.

4. Advertising Revenue

Telegram's new advertising revenue model based on TON offers public channel owners new profit opportunities. Channel owners can receive 50% of advertising revenue and be paid in Toncoin (TON), the cryptocurrency of the TON blockchain. For channels that struggle to profit through direct monetization, especially in education and entertainment, this model undoubtedly provides more space for developing quality content. Additionally, Telegram offers the Telegram Star program, allowing channel or bot owners to place ads through the Telegram advertising platform and use Stars in their channel or bot account balance to pay for advertising, enjoying discounts of up to 30%. This provides channel owners with a more cost-effective way to attract new users, further enhancing the exposure and growth potential of their channels or bots.

Conclusion - Thoughts on Telegram Traffic and Web3 Growth

With the continuous growth of Telegram's user base, traffic sales and joint operation incubation models show tremendous potential in the Telegram + TON ecosystem. In the future, these models may further integrate AI and big data analytics to improve the accuracy of traffic matching and marketing effectiveness. Meanwhile, as the TON ecosystem develops, the combination of traffic sales and blockchain technology will bring more innovative business models, helping projects stand out in a competitive market.

In the Web3 ecosystem, the most critical issue currently is how to acquire new users and traffic, rather than merely relying on narratives. As long as enough users can be attracted, the strong traffic itself can drive the formation of narratives, with meme culture being one of the largest sources of traffic and narrative. Just like the analogy of natural diamonds and synthetic diamonds, while Pepe, as a natural representative of meme culture, holds unique value, carefully designed and marketed synthetic memes can also create equally valuable worth.

These trends indicate that Telegram, as a platform for traffic monetization, possesses immense flexibility and diversity, providing rich business opportunities for project developers and investors. By effectively utilizing these traffic monetization models, project teams can achieve rapid growth in a short time and meet their expected business goals.