TON Foundation

The TON Foundation is a non‑profit organization registered in Switzerland in 2023. It provides financial and media support for the development of the TON blockchain without controlling the protocol itself.

The foundation coordinates grants, bounties, and accelerator programs to grow the TON ecosystem. It is funded by community contributions and partnerships with exchanges and venture funds, and it launched a U.S.‑focused leadership in early 2025.

Funding and Partnerships#

Funding comes from community contributions and partnerships with cryptocurrency exchanges and venture funds such as KuCoin, MEXC Ventures, ByBit, and Mirana Ventures.

Leadership Change#

In January 2025, Manuel Stötz, founder of Kingsway Capital, succeeded Steve Yun as president of the foundation. Stötz aims to expand activities in the United States and promote Mini Apps on Telegram.

Core Programs#

TON Accelerator – assistance for early‑stage projects.
Mentorship Program – developer mentorship and support.
Community Bot – tools for managing Telegram groups and channels.
The Open League – competition and reward program for users, projects, and traders.
Early – promotion of Web3 projects from concept to market launch.
TON Bootcamp – incubation program for building mini‑apps on TON, supported by Future3 Campus and HashKey Capital.

Grants and Bounties#

The foundation offers grants and bounties for promising TON projects. Applications are submitted via a public GitHub repository. Grants are categorized:

Type A – proof‑of‑concept and initial deployment.
Type B – TON projects with an existing user base.
Type C – projects outside TON considering migration or Telegram integration.
Type D – projects requiring venture funding.

TON Ventures#

TON Ventures was launched in August 2024 with an initial capital of $40 million to support innovative projects within the TON ecosystem, focusing on @wallet, Telegram Mini Apps, and mass‑consumer tools.

Society DAO#

On 1 November 2024, the community created the Society DAO, bringing together TON Core, TON Society, Wallet in Telegram, and TON Studio to enhance decentralization, transparency, and capital access.

Notable Partnerships and Initiatives#

HashKey Group – supports early projects and improves fiat‑to‑crypto on‑ramps in APAC.
Animoca Brands – invested heavily in Toncoin and became a major validator.
Fireblocks + DWF Labs – provide digital‑asset management for TON Space.
Future3 Campus, Wanxiang Blockchain Labs, HashKey Capital – backed Asian promotion programs that produced projects such as Tradoor, WowFish, Xircus, Bounty Bay, BOOM UP, Anome, Telemetree, TonStash, DaoBot, and Tons of Friends.

USDT on TON Initiative#

The foundation allocated 11 million Toncoin to incentivize the deployment of USDT on TON, rewarding liquidity providers and enabling fee‑free withdrawals.