History of TON Mining

TON mining was a unique proof‑of‑work (PoW) phase that helped distribute Toncoin before the network transitioned to pure proof‑of‑stake (PoS).

Origin and legal setback#

Telegram raised $1.7 billion in its 2018 token sale, exceeding the original $850 million target. In November 2019 the project launched testnet2, allocating 1.45 % of the total supply to developers and testers.

The U.S. SEC sued Telegram, arguing that TON was a security. The 2020 settlement forced Telegram to abandon development, after which the community revived the codebase as The Open Network (TON).

Proof‑of‑Work Giver contracts#

After the settlement, Telegram placed all network tokens into twenty Proof‑of‑Work Giver smart contracts:

10 small givers – each dispensed 10–100 TON every few minutes.
10 large givers – each dispensed 10,000 TON at least once per day.

These contracts enabled an initial proof‑of‑work (IPoW) period where any user could mine Toncoin on equal terms.

Mining process#

Miners interacted with a Giver contract, solved a mathematical challenge, and received the reward if they were first. The mining phase ran from June 6 2020 to June 28 2022.

During this time Toncoin had no market value and functioned solely as a test token. Large‑giver contracts were intended for participants who later became validators.

Decentralized token distribution#

Through IPoW, tens of thousands of miners obtained Toncoin without ICOs or token sales. The network distributed an average of 200,000 TON per day.

When the Giver contracts exhausted their balances, traditional TON mining ended, and the network continued with PoS validator rewards.