The TON blockchain has increased its speed tenfold and is now planning to lower fees if the top Level 1s (L1s) compete with users.
On April 9, Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that the latest upgrade, Catchain 2.0, was successful. According to him, the blockchain now creates blocks six times faster, and transactions are now ‘instant, subsecond.’
Durov added that the 10x speed was the first of the seven steps of the blockchain renewal process, called the Make TON Great Again (MTONGA) framework. The second phase will reduce the transaction cost by 6x.
Will these upgrades support TON services?
According to ChainSpect, TON is now ranked 14th among the fastest blockchain networks. During the second block, they only compete Solana and The price of BNB shares.
Worth noting, BNB Chain also made changes to improve its speed and lower transaction costs. The end goal is to attract users who want fast and cheap transfers that can also power other DeFi applications.
This is especially true of the stablecoin exchange, which is powered by Ethereum. However, rising competition from cheaper options like TronSolana, The price of BNB sharesand now TON has reduced its market share in stablecoin returns.
Currently, the exchange rate for TON is about $0.00315, while Solana charges $0.00201. In other words, Solana is 40% cheaper than TON.
But if the 6x lower payout is achieved, TON will be 3.5x or 72% cheaper than Solana. This would be a competitive advantage, especially in the stablecoin revolution.
At the time of writing, TON was the 13th largest stablecoin asset. Despite this, the TON blockchain has been on a downward trend since the end of 2024.
The DEX rating has dropped from a 2024 high of $1.4B to $26M as of April 2026. Similarly, TVL (closed value) has dropped from a record $766M to $55M.
But the decrease in the work was due to the decrease in the market. But it remains to be seen whether the lower fees will attract new users to the chain.
Brief Summary
- TON is now 10x faster and may soon be 3.5x cheaper than Solana amid cutthroat competition for on-chain users.
- The Telegraph’s Pavel Durov said the plans are part of the Make TON Great Again (MTONGA) plan as the chain’s operations shrink.
