Native USDt on TON: Adoption and Market Dynamics Q2 2024
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This public article is the result of an internal report conducted by The Open Platform.
On April 19th, Pavel Durov, CEO & Founder of Telegram, Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, and Andrew Rogozov, CEO of TOP & Wallet, announced the launch of native USDt on TON at TOKEN2049. USDt-TON was designed to revolutionize peer-to-peer payments, allowing Telegram users to make USDt transfers instantly by simply sending a direct message to their contacts.
With a total circulation of $580 million in just 3 months since its launch, USDt is already deeply integrated with most of TON’s major protocols and dApps. This post will explore the emerging trends surrounding USDt within TON’s ecosystem and its role as a Digital Dollar. We will delve into:
— The premise for introducing native USDt to TON and its significance in the long-term strategy of TON and Telegram
— Gasless USDt payments on TON
— The context for USDt-TON’s adoption figures compared to similar metrics on other blockchains
— The adoption markers of USDt-TON within the TON ecosystem
— The current and future impact of USDt-TON on TON.
USDt-TON Ranks 10th by Total Circulation Among Other Chains
Soon after the launch announcement OKX, KuCoin, MEXC and ByBit enabled the USDt-TON deposits and withdrawals. The launch on the these exchanges was accompanied by free withdrawals to TON and promotion campaigns. OKX, KuCoin and ByBit held the USDt-TON Learn and Earn campaign in partnership with TON Foundation, where participants shared a prize pool of 20,000 Toncoin (~$140,000), $200,000 in Toncoin and 120,000 USDt respectively.
Simultaneously, 10 million Toncoin were allocated by TON Foundation to liquidity pools on STON.fi, DeDust, as well as Wallet Earn. The following sections will explore the metrics related to the adoption of USDt-TON on TON-based DEXs in more detail.
3 months since its launch, USDt-TON is supported by over 60 partners, including multiple global exchanges and is available on all TON-based wallets and DEXs:
Traction within the TON ecosystem and on numerous global platforms translates into robust adoption metrics. As of this report, USDt-TON reached:
- $580,000,002 market capitalization / total circulation
- 37,811,230 TON TVL (~$269.23M)
- $11,349,242 24H trading volume
- 487,698 holders
Sources: TON App, DYOR.io, Tonalytica Redoubt. Accessed on July 9, 2024.
This means that USDt-TON has achieved the 10th ranking by total circulation among other chains. With Tether’s total circulation at 112.19 billion, this contributes 0.52% to its market capitalization.
This also makes USDt-TON the fastest growing standard for USDt. In 3 months post-launch USDt-TON outperformed any other USDt standard by total circulation among those that are tracked by Tether:
This robust start, highlighted by the high-level metrics, indicates strong initial adoption of USDt-TON. To truly understand its impact, we will explore USDt-TON’s impact on segments of TON’s DeFi landscape in more detail.
USDt-TON as a Solution for Seamless P2P Payments on Telegram
Before the adoption of the native USDt, jUSDT served as the official USDt. jUSDT is a wrapped token based on the original USDt ERC-20 (Ethereum) or BEP-20 (Binance Smart Chain) standards. Holders of the original USDt needed to use TON bridge to convert their tokens to jUSDT to interact with the TON ecosystem.
jUSDT was widely adopted in the ecosystem prior to the launch of the native USDt and was used in trading pairs on major DEXs on TON (STON.fi and DeDust). Some protocols, like DeDust, built their UI based on the official bridge to simplify the onboarding process for users from other chains. Others, such as Storm Trade — a derivative exchange on TON — found their way around the bridging and allowed users to place collateral in Toncoin instead of jUSDT.
Still, the lack of a one-step solution for transitioning between fiat and a stable currency that would seamlessly integrate with TON/Telegram’s payment infrastructure, the Mini Apps ecosystem, and web-based dApps on TON acted as a major barrier to onboarding regular Telegram users who may not be as familiar with crypto.
Native USDt was introduced to address this challenge. USDt-TON streamlines Telegram payments, allowing users to purchase Digital Dollars on TON without needing a wallet address, making peer-to-peer transfers as easy as sending a message:
The launch of native USDt is part of a broader strategy to enable nearly 900 million Telegram users to engage in seamless peer-to-peer crypto payments directly within the app. Native USDt allows users to send and receive the stablecoin instantly and directly to their Telegram contacts worldwide. TON’s infrastructure supports this by offering built-in on-ramps for easy purchase of USDt with fiat.
The integration is complemented by Telegram Wallet, the Mini App infrastructure, major exchanges that exist as Mini Apps and can be accessed directly in Telegram (such as STON.fi and DeDust), and other TON dApps present on Telegram.
Gasless USDt Transfers Now Available on TON
Tonkeeper has introduced a game-changing feature: gasless USDt payments with W5 wallet. Now available as a public beta, this innovative advancement allows users to make transfers instantly and seamlessly, without worrying about the technicalities of managing transaction fees. This major update is meant to enhance accessibility for smaller holders and new users.
W5 standard simplifies the transaction process by enabling users to pay network fees using the same token being transferred, eliminating the need to hold Toncoin to cover fees. This not only enhances accessibility but also significantly accelerates the adoption of blockchain for everyday financial activities. Learn more about gasless payments on TON here.
Alternatively, blockchain fees can be covered using Tonkeeper’s Battery feature. The Battery can be “charged” by sending a few dollars’ worth of tokens to a special address or through in-app purchases and used to power transfers, swaps, staking, and NFT transactions.
Gasless transactions with W5 are also available to developers building projects based on the TON API, which is part of the TON Apps ecosystem alongside Tonkeeper. We can expect wider adoption of gasless USDt payments on TON in the near future. This update marks a significant step towards making crypto transactions as accessible as traditional financial transactions, removing the complexity and barriers typically associated with cryptocurrency use.
Native USDt Achieves Market Dominance Across Major TON Protocols and dApps
In the first 3 months since its launch, native USDt achieved a TVL of $269.23 million, attributed to its dominance in TON’s main DEXs and most adopted DeFi protocols. As of this report, USDt-TON is integrated into most of TON’s DeFi ecosystem components.
Checklist: USDt-TON interaction with TON DeFi
Several data points effectively demonstrate the extent of USDt’s adoption.
TVL and Trading Volumes
The majority of trading with USDt-TON occurs on DeDust and STON.fi. The total pool volume from trading pairs with USDt on both DEXs has exceeded $50 million, while the TVL continues to reach new highs as we release this post.
The TON/USDt pool is now the leading pool on STON.fi, with a TVL of $224.43 million:
Similarly, TON/USDt is a now the largest pool on DeDust with a TVL of $326.78 million:
USDt now ranks first by the amount borrowed and available for supply on Evaa Protocol, the lending protocol on TON:
Holders
The amount of holders reached 489.16K as of July 9, 2024:
Notably, the amount of USDt holders now largely exceeds the ATH amount of jUSDT (bridged USDt) holders:
The halt of minting new jUSDT is at least partially responsible for the fluctuating number of holders for USDt-TON and jUSDT. Holders of jUSDT can now bridge their USDT back to Ethereum without a percentage fee through bridge.ton.org. Bridging jUSDT to USDT ERC-20 will be supported as long as there are jUSDT holders.
Minting of new jUSDT stopped on June 10, 2024. Holders are now able to swap their tokens for USDt-TON on DEXs in addition to transferring jUSDT to USDt ERC-20. TON Foundation announced that they will add liquidity to the jUSDT-USDt pools in the upcoming weeks.
Performance Compared to Other Jettons
USDt accounts for over 90% of the native jettons’ TVL for the last 30 days as of July 9, 2024…
…and ranks first in terms of 30-day market volume:
What Does This Mean for TON
The native issuance of USDt-TON means that developers and users can trust that their asset is always redeemable 1:1 for US dollars and is issued by Tether, a regulated entity. Shift to native USDt also eliminates the bridge exploit risk, which has been a significant concern in the crypto world. Users no longer have to rely on third-party bridges, which are often susceptible to security vulnerabilities and exploits.
Additionally, having a single official version of USDt on TON makes the user experience uniform and not fragmented, allowing for more seamless and consistent interactions. This uniformity and trust are connected into a smooth cycle of seamless on- and off-ramp processes, low-cost and intuitive transfers, and interactions with TON-based DeFi, GameFi, NFT, and social platforms. As users and developers become more accustomed to native USDt, the user experience within TON becomes increasingly streamlined and efficient.
Summary of the Findings and Future Implications
The findings indicate that native USDt replaces bridged jUSDT in most on-chain activities and attracts new holders. This is evident from the decreasing trading volume of jUSDT since the introduction of native USDT, while the number of USDt holders now surpasses the peak counts of jUSDT.
The launch, however, is more about long-term engagement and less about immediate on-chain activity metrics. Onboarding Telegram’s vast user base of 900 million will take time. Still, it is a critical step towards achieving TON’s goal of becoming a standard for instant, low-cost transfers across the globe without barriers for non-tech-savvy individuals, making financial transactions as accessible as sending a message.
USDt has reached 10th position in total circulation among other chains in 3 months since its launch. As more Telegram users begin to adopt USDt, there is a real possibility that it could rival major chains like Tron and Ethereum in terms of adoption.
How to start using USDt on TON?
- Purchase USDt within Telegram Wallet via your bank card or on the P2P exchange. Learn more at ton.blog.org
- Start earning rewards on your USDt deposit with Wallet Earn in Telegram Wallet
- Check out the liquidity pools on STON.fi and DeDust (or in the Mini Apps: STON.fi, DeDust) to start earning rewards with LP boosts on pairs with USDt.
Are you a builder with ideas about bringing more value and utility to our DeFi ecosystem? DM us on Twitter or visit our official website: https://top.co.
