Recent reports have implied that Telegram messenger is set to begin testing TON (Telegram Open Network) its blockchain network in September. The company’s owners raised a whopping $1.7 billion in March in an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) that is one of the most successful ones of all time. Part of the proceeds from the ICO have been used to develop the platforms blockchain network which is aimed at building a universal blockchain infrastructure based on its speed as well as the inclusion of smart contracts. It is therefore very easy to see why many people are so excited about this.
The testing phase of the crypto platform is set to kick off in September and the blockchain nodes will be available as open-source alongside other blockchain database management tools like consensus and shards – these will allow a test-run of TON.
TON is slated to process transactions faster and more efficiently than both Bitcoin and Ethereum while at the same time rivaling widely accepted payment options like MasterCard and Visa. To make it even better, the platform will also be compatible with Ethereum (ETH) when it launches and hopefully, other cryptocurrencies will get support along the way. Very promising, right?
The Concerns
While the TON platform may seem like a solution to a ton of problems, not everyone is convinced that it is what it claims to be. According to a report detailing how terrorists have been using digital currencies, there has been speculation that the release of TON and the associated Gram token pose a significant security threat to the United States’ government.
Telegram seems to be aware of such concerns and has even gone as far as singling out people they believe are terrorists through their privacy policy which reads:
“If Telegram receives a court order that confirms you’re a terror suspect, we may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities. So far, this has never happened. When it does, we will include it in a semiannual transparency report…”
Telegram’s chief executive officer, Pavel Durov, has been very adamant when it comes to compromising the security of the messaging platform. However, he has cooperated with governments after terrorist attacks were reportedly coordinated using the app. Now, there is even more scrutiny being directed at the company because of its TONPayments – there is a considerable amount of certainty that this will make it very easy for terrorists to raise funds for their operations all without a trace.
