Animoca becomes largest validator of TON blockchain

Web3 investment firm Animoca Brands is set to become the largest validator of Telegram’s TON (The Open Network) blockchain and plans to deliver blockchain-based games to the messaging app’s 800 million strong user base.

An announcement shared with Cointelegraph outlined how the partnership will involve the provision of funding, research, and an analytics platform for third-party TON ecosystem applications. 

The value of Animoca’s investment was not disclosed at the time of publishing, but part of the investment is understood to have been made directly into Toncoin, which has been staked as part of the validator agreement.

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Animoca has carried out extensive market research on TON’s wider ecosystem focused on the platform’s ability to drive cryptocurrency and GameFi adoption.

The firm plans to strategically support TON Play, a gaming infrastructure project based on the TON blockchain. The infrastructure allows gaming applications to be built on TON and launched on Telegram, as well as port existing web-based games to the messaging app.

Ton Play will enable developers to deliver games to some 800 million Telegram users through its web application and the mobile app’s PlayDeck bot – which allows users to browse a catalog of mobile games.

Animoca will also explore the ability to port a selection of its gaming titles and applications from its portfolio of over 400 Web3 projects to Telegram.

Animoca Brands Research has also developed its own TON Analytics Dashboard, which gathers a variety of metrics from TON’s open internet ecosystem, which includes TON Blockchain, TON DNS, TON Storage and TON Sites.

TON Foundation director of growth Justin Hyun said the analytics platform and in-depth research reports provided by Animoca will play an important role in infusing Web3 functionality into the everyday experiences of Telegram users.

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Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu said the investment in TON is aligned with the firm’s efforts to drive adoption and the transition of Web2 to Web3.

“Taking part in the network’s validation underlines our…