As revealed on Wednesday, the overwhelming majority of players selected The Open Network (TON), a blockchain closely associated with Telegram.
According to an official message in the W-Coin Telegram channel, TON received 68% of the votes, with over 8.8 million players supporting it. Solana came in second with 24%, while Ethereum trailed with just 8%.
Although Solana and Ethereum are more established networks with significantly larger ecosystems, TON’s close relationship with Telegram has made it the preferred choice. It will also serve as the home for tokens from several other popular games on the platform. Originally developed by Telegram, TON has been maintained by community developers since Telegram ceased its involvement in 2020 due to regulatory challenges. Over the past year, Telegram has reintegrated TON, offering crypto payments to channel owners and launching an in-app currency tied to the network.
This surge in Telegram-based mini apps centered around cryptocurrency has been highlighted by the rise of tap-to-earn games, such as Notcoin and the soon-to-be-released Hamster Kombat. Notcoin’s TON-based token, NOT, remains this year’s most significant gaming token launch, hitting a peak market cap of nearly $3 billion, although its value has since dropped significantly.
Hamster Kombat has already attracted over 300 million players and is set to release its HMSTR token on TON on September 26. Other prominent Telegram games like Rocky Rabbit and X Empire are also preparing to launch their tokens on the TON network in the coming weeks.
As for W-Coin, it’s still uncertain when the WCOIN token will be launched. With nearly 20 million players according to in-game statistics, W-Coin recently introduced a new game mode called “W-AI,” which allows players to invest in upgrading a virtual trading bot that generates passive income.
