20%+ Apr Heats Ton Validator Race

Pavel @durov has pushed back against criticism of Telegram's decision to become the largest validator on The Open Network (@ton_blockchain), arguing the move strengthens decentralization rather than undermining it. His case: @telegram's stake acts as a counterweight, creating room for other large participants to join the pool without any single party dominating the network.

Validators Lock Up More $TON as APR Tops 20%

The validator race is intensifying. Competing nodes are currently chasing yields of 20% or more in annual percentage rate, drawing more $TON into lockup in the process. Independent staking data from Staking Rewards shows TON validators earning around 23% APY at current rates. That backdrop helps explain why Telegram's entrance into the validator set is being watched closely: a larger, better-capitalised participant changes the competitive dynamics for everyone else.

Telegram has staked approximately 2.2 million TON, worth around $2.88 million, to operate as a primary validator on the network. A linked main validator wallet holds around 28.2 million TON on top of that. The top validator on a blockchain is the node or entity with the largest token stake, which translates into superior voting weight.

$TON Surges on Foundation Handover News

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said Telegram will replace the TON Foundation as the main driving force behind The Open Network and become its largest validator, signalling a deeper operational role for the messaging platform in the blockchain ecosystem. $TON rallied more than 36% in the past 24 hours, hitting a four-month high of $1.80.

Durov said TON fees had dropped sixfold to "nearly zero" and that the next step would be to shift the network's focus toward "tech superiority," including a new website, new developer tools, and performance upgrades. Earlier in April, the network deployed Catchain 2.0, a revamped consensus mechanism that shrank block times from 2.5 seconds to 400 milliseconds.

The move is not without risk. Telegram becoming TON's largest validator also makes it the network's most powerful single actor, and DeFi observers have noted that a blockchain where one company controls a dominant validator share is, by definition, not fully decentralised. The bullish sentiment has nonetheless spread across the Telegram-linked ecosystem, with Notcoin gaining nearly 26%, Dogs rising more than 100%, and several smaller TON-based tokens posting even larger daily moves.

Sources:
CoinTelegraph: Telegram to Become TON's Largest Validator, Durov Says
CoinDesk: Toncoin surges 36% as Telegram replaces TON Foundation
Staking Rewards: Toncoin (TON) Staking Rates