TON Braces for Increased User Activity Amid Airdrop Season

The Open Network (TON) is getting ready for a significant influx of activity as its airdrop season approaches. However, developers are cautioning that the network might face challenges in accommodating the wave of new users. This anticipated rush is largely fueled by the success of Telegram-related games like Hamster Kombat and Catizen, both planning to launch reward tokens later this month.

Telegram’s innovative tap-to-earn games have quickly caught on in the crypto space, bringing in hundreds of millions of potential new users to TON. Nevertheless, this heightened activity could pose issues for the network. This week, the TON Core development team warned that the expected spike in players trying to claim rewards could significantly burden the system.

In an announcement on a Telegram channel, the core developers indicated that the network is likely to face increased technical challenges and could encounter unexpected problems as it navigates this surge in interaction. The cautionary note comes after the network experienced service disruptions, primarily due to a spike in activity related to tap-to-earn games and the growing adoption of mini-apps on Telegram.

Tons of daily activity has surged recently, with active user addresses on some days surpassing 1.1 million. In just one day, the network facilitated 14.4 million transactions, fueled by excitement over upcoming gaming airdrops, particularly from Hamster Kombat and Catizen.

Catizen has garnered an impressive user base of 35 million on Telegram and is set to launch its CATI token on September 20, with developers predicting that around 15 million players will be eligible to claim these tokens.

Hamster Kombat has even more astounding statistics, with over 300 million players as of July, and 86 million active users recorded last month according to Telegram’s data. Players eagerly await their HMSTR token airdrop set for September 26, marking it as a highly anticipated event within the TON community.

Such unprecedented user engagement in Web3 has come as a surprise to TON Core developers, driven primarily by the Telegram gaming phenomenon. However, there have been challenges along the way; the network saw two significant outages within a single week last month, with block processing halted for several hours on each occasion.

The main reason behind these disruptions was the overwhelming demand for DOGS tokens, a meme coin inspired by a sketch from Telegram founder Pavel Durov. Currently, the DOGS token is held by 4.5 million unique wallets on TON, further straining the network’s capabilities.

As more game-related airdrops loom, TON developers anticipate even more severe disruptions as millions of users are set to claim rewards at once. Both Hamster Kombat and Catizen token releases are likely to amplify activity on TON, posing additional technical challenges.

Despite these warnings, TON developers remain dedicated to resolving issues and ensuring network stability. They have assured users that they will closely monitor developments and address any obstacles, demonstrating a commitment to fostering mass adoption of their platform.

In their final remarks on Telegram, the developers stated, “We are steadfast in our commitment to building and overcoming these challenges as we progress towards mass adoption.”