Pavel Durov: Telegram will become TON's largest validator and take the reins from the Foundation!

Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that Telegram will replace the <a class="ticker-mention" href="/en-US/token/ton">TON</a> Foundation as the primary driver of the TON blockchain and become its largest validator — a significant shift in who steers one of crypto&#x27;s most user-facing ecosystems.

The move comes with a concrete near-term roadmap: a new website, expanded developer tools, and performance upgrades are all expected within the next two to three weeks. Durov&#x27;s framing puts technical performance at the centre of the pivot, signalling that Telegram intends to treat TON as core infrastructure rather than an affiliated side project.

With Telegram&#x27;s 900-million-plus user base as a distribution lever, direct validator control could accelerate both network security and developer adoption in ways the Foundation alone could not.