Pantera Capital, a prominent crypto-focused venture capital firm, has invested an undisclosed sum in The Open Network (TON). This marks Pantera’s latest investment in TON and is driven by the platform’s affiliation with the Telegram messaging service.
In a blog post on their website, Pantera expressed their belief that TON has the potential to become one of the largest crypto networks due to Telegram’s decision to incorporate it. With a user base of 900 million monthly users and 36.7 million monthly downloads, Telegram is well-positioned to introduce cryptocurrencies to the masses, thanks to its shared Web3 ethos.
Pantera highlighted several advantages of TON, including its architecture, which offers performance and scalability comparable to leading blockchains, and its user-friendly wallet interface, which provides high utility.
Additionally, Pantera praised the mini-apps that TON enables on Telegram. These mini-apps offer new monetization opportunities, such as ad revenue sharing and the ability to trade customized usernames, virtual phone numbers, and emojis.
The partnership between Telegram and TON is seen as a significant achievement by Pantera. While TON was initially designed to integrate with Telegram, the project faced obstacles from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. However, Telegram was able to reconnect with TON after independent developers relaunched the network, making it the only major messaging platform to incorporate Web3.
Pantera also noted that other messaging platforms, such as Messenger with Meta’s Libra coin and WeChat with the digital yuan, have struggled to overcome regulatory hurdles and have limited scope in their cryptocurrency integration.
With $5.2 billion in assets under management across four funds, Pantera announced the creation of a new $1 billion fund in April.
Cointelegraph reached out to Pantera for further details but did not receive a response at the time of publication.