"TON Tides: A Folded Narrative of VC, Trading Platforms, and Traffic Frenzy ------ Starting from the Arrest of Yescoin's Founder"

Recently, the incident of Yescoin's founder being taken away by Uncle Hat has stirred up a lot of buzz on Twitter.

Recently, the incident of Yescoin's founder being taken away by Uncle Hat has stirred up a lot of buzz on Twitter. I remember just a month ago, Zhang Chi was still updating his entrepreneurial reflections on BitClqun, while millions of users had played this Telegram click game last year.

Following my curiosity, I discovered that the disclosed information mentioned "missing the best opportunity to issue coins in May 2024," which inevitably reminded me of the craziness of the TON ecosystem six months ago.

At that time, VCs and KOLs were shouting, "TON will become the WeChat of Web3," with social media flooded with myths of "click to get rich." Trading platforms scrambled to launch TON ecosystem projects, and retail investors crazily registered Telegram accounts to "grab airdrops" ... Now, Yescoin's predicament serves as a mirror, reflecting the parabolic trajectory of the TON ecosystem from its peak to its decline ...

1. The "Fateful Cycle" of Yescoin and TON

Recently, there has been a lively discussion on Twitter about the incident of Yescoin's founder being taken away by Uncle Hat. I vividly recall that just a month ago, Zhang Chi was diligently updating his entrepreneurial reflections on BitClqun, while millions of users had enthusiastically engaged in playing this Telegram click game last year.

Driven by curiosity, I delved deeper into the matter and discovered that the disclosed information mentioned "missing the best opportunity to issue coins in May 2024," which inevitably brought to mind the exuberance surrounding the TON ecosystem six months ago.

During that time, VCs and KOLs were eagerly promoting TON as the "super application entry point for Web3," setting the stage for market sentiment. In the same period, the TVL on the TON chain experienced a 20-fold increase to reach $600 million in just two months, and user growth outpaced that of Ethereum. VCs had a clear understanding of the logic that "traffic equals valuation." Telegram's billion-user pool was an unreachable "treasure trove" for any public chain.

2. The Rise: The "Trio" of VCs, Trading Platforms, and TG

Early investors like Pantera Capital heavily promoted TON, aiming to create the "super application entry point for Web3" in 2024 and boosting market sentiment.

The TVL on the TON chain rose 20 times to $600 million in two months, and user growth outpaced Ethereum's. VCs understood the logic that "traffic equals valuation." No public chain could match Telegram's billion-user pool, which was a "treasure trove" for any VC.

Binance, OKX, and other trading platforms quickly sensed the opportunity and rushed to launch TON ecosystem projects. Mini-games like Notcoin and Catizen rapidly gained popularity due to "zero threshold + social fission." Notcoin boasted over 35 million users, and Catizen attracted 20 million users in two months, achieving a billion-dollar market cap upon launch.

The influx of Telegram users into trading platforms resembled the "Pinduoduo-style fission" of the Web2 era, and what trading platforms needed was this "data growth" narrative for their financial reports.

Telegram founder Durov has publicly supported TON multiple times, launching the embedded wallet TON Space to create a closed loop of "communication + payment + gaming." Tether issued stablecoins on the TON chain, and the official launched a $5 million developer incentive program, each step pointing to the ambition of transforming Telegram's social empire into a crypto economy.

It was this collusion of the three that propelled the prosperity of the TON ecosystem.

Early participants who encountered projects like Notcoin and Dogs could easily earn $30 per account. This wave also allowed a group of cross-border e-commerce operators to profit immensely from trading Telegram accounts, with some earning millions in a single night, which was quite a shock for me at the time: So this is what airdrops in the TON ecosystem look like?

After Notcoin and Dogs were launched on Binance, the grand drama finally reached its climax ------ Binance eventually listed TON, with the highest coin price soaring to $8, followed closely by the launches of star projects like Catizen and Hmster.

However, as a deep participant in the TON ecosystem, I also realized a significant issue: the value of airdrops began to rapidly diminish after TON was listed on Binance, and it was at this moment that I started shorting TON ecosystem tokens. Looking back, this was an incredibly correct decision.

3. The Decline: Value Collapse After Traffic Exhaustion

By the later stages of the TON ecosystem, project parties and trading platforms jointly promoted the "TON Ecosystem Month," with gameplay still revolving around signing in, recruiting, and consuming gas.

Trading platforms gradually woke up: the so-called "billion-user pool" had a conversion rate of less than 1%, and most people