Share this article

Bitget, Foresight Ventures Buy $30M TON Tokens From Whales

Deal was with a number of TON whales directly, and not a fundraising round with the TON Foundation

By Sam Reynolds, Bradley Keoun|Edited by Parikshit Mishra

Updated Sep 18, 2024, 11:13 a.m. Published Sep 18, 2024, 11:10 a.m.

Telegram app on smartphone (Shutterstock)

Bitget and Foresight Ventures announced on Wednesday that it acquired $30 million in TON from whales.
This deal was not structured as a traditional VC investment, but rather a purchase from the token's largest holders

Crypto exchange Bitget and Web3 investor Foresight Ventures announced on Wednesday that they have increased their exposure to The Open Network (TON Blockchain) by $30 million through a deal with a number of unnamed whales of the TON ecosystem.

This investment wasn’t a traditionally structured deal where the investors buy tokens from the foundation that supports the blockchain, but rather direct purchase from TON whales a spokesperson confirmed.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

“The investment is between Bitget, Foresight Ventures, and Toncoin holders. The TON Foundation is not involved in the deal. As TON foundation is actively supporting development and user adoption of the TON ecosystems, we will closely work with TON Foundation to boost the TON ecosystem,” a spokesperson confirmed to CoinDesk by email. “All TON tokens acquired have a lock-up period and will be gradually released according to the vesting scheme to ensure that all parties are committed to the TON ecosystem for the long term.”

TON has been one of the year’s notable growth stories, thanks to its connection with Telegram’s nearly 900 million users. DeFiLlama data shows that TON’s total value locked exceeds $400 million.

In April, Tether expanded to TON to boost peer-to-peer payments on Telegram. Recently the total authorized USDT on TON hit $1 billion. While Telegram and TON aren’t formerly affiliated, the two share an ecosystem.

"The surge of the TON ecosystem represents the biggest growth opportunity in the cryptocurrency market this year and in the next three-to-five years,” Forest Bai, co-founder and CEO of Foresight Ventures, said in a release.

Toncoin (TON) is currently trading for $5.51, up 5% in the last week according to CoinDesk Indicies data.

TON TON Coin TON Foundation Telegram

Sam Reynolds

Sam Reynolds is a senior reporter based in Asia. Sam was part of the CoinDesk team that won the 2023 Gerald Loeb award in the breaking news category for coverage of FTX's collapse. Prior to CoinDesk, he was a reporter with Blockworks and a semiconductor analyst with IDC.

Bradley Keoun

Bradley Keoun is CoinDesk's managing editor of tech & protocols, where he oversees a team of reporters covering blockchain technology, and previously ran the global crypto markets team. A two-time Loeb Awards finalist, he previously was chief global finance and economic correspondent for TheStreet and before that worked as an editor and reporter for Bloomberg News in New York and Mexico City, reporting on Wall Street, emerging markets and the energy industry. He started out as a police-beat reporter for the Gainesville Sun in Florida and later worked as a general-assignment reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, he double-majored in electrical engineering and classical studies as an undergraduate at Duke University and later obtained a master's in journalism from the University of Florida. He is currently based in Austin, Texas, and in his spare time plays guitar, sings in a choir and hikes in the Texas Hill Country. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.