Telegram-Linked Crypto Wallet Developer Raises $28.5M as TON’s First Unicorn – Crypto News

The Open Platform, a startup building crypto tools for Telegram, said in a press release shared with The Defiant that it has raised $28.5 million in new funding at a $1 billion valuation. The company, also known as TOP, claims to be the first unicorn in the ecosystem built on The Open Network (TON), which Telegram tapped as its exclusive blockchain partner in January.

The Series A round was led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from Pantera Capital. TOP’s CEO, Andrew Rogozov — who previously led Russian social media giant VK as CEO after it came under closer control by the Russian government — said that the raise accounts for about 5% of the company’s equity and didn’t involve any crypto. Including earlier rounds, TOP has now raised more than $70 million.

TOP develops Wallet, a TON-based crypto wallet integrated into Telegram’s interface, as well as Telegram-based apps for gaming, payments, and NFTs. In a March interview, TOP told reporters that over 100 million users have signed up for an account with Wallet on Telegram. TOP is also a backer of crypto wallet Tonkeeper, DEX STONfi, NFT marketplace Getgems, and other apps and protocols in the TON ecosystem.

The Telegram-focused developer said that the funds will be used to expand TOP’s products into the United States, the EU, and other regions. The company’s CEO also added that a big part of the funds will go toward compliance, licensing, and operational infrastructure.

Push into Gaming

When asked if there are any plans for pushing Wallet beyond the TON ecosystem, Alexander Kruglov, chief commercial officer at Wallet in Telegram, told The Defiant that the firm is focused on “developing TON’s ecosystem because it’s the only technology with the scalability necessary to support an ecosystem for Telegram’s 1 billion users.”

“We will continue to focus our self-custodial product exclusively on TON — however we currently also provide a variety of assets in our custodial product for people who want to buy, hold and sell specific cryptos that aren’t native to TON,” Kruglov explained.

Additionally, in a commentary for The Defiant, Andrey Klebanov, managing partner at TOP Labs, said that the TOP team wants to double down on blockchain gaming as it’s focused “on growing the gaming vertical within Telegram.”

“We believe it’s possible to build sustainable games on Telegram that engage users without relying on direct incentives. Gaming is one of the fastest and most intuitive ways to drive millions of users to begin interacting with crypto — especially with the growing asset economy in Telegram,” Klebanov said.

He also added that the team is “exploring the benefits that AI can bring.” TOP Lab’s managing partner told the Defiant:

TON Ecosystem

The TON network surged through much of 2024, until a sudden crash in August wiped out over half of its total value locked (TVL), plunging from more than $760 million to $310 million TVL in under a month. Since then, the slide has continued, with TVL now sitting at just $141.6 million, according to data from DeFiLlama.

TOP was incorporated in Abu Dhabi in 2023, the same year Telegram and TON initially established their partnership. In March 2025, the TON Foundation said that several major VCs — including Sequoia, Ribbit, and Benchmark — had acquired $400 million worth of Toncoin (TON), the native token of the TON ecosystem. The price of Toncoin, which is a top-30 crypto asset by market cap, is down over 3% today and 13% on the month.

The TON blockchain was originally launched by Telegram itself back in 2018 and was called Telegram Open Network (TON). After facing scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its token sale, Telegram shut the project down in 2020. A year later, the blockchain was revived as The Open Network, with development under the independent stewardship of the TON Foundation.

Looking ahead, the TON Foundation said that it aims to bring 30% of Telegram’s active users onto the TON blockchain by 2028. The foundation’s strategy focuses on using Telegram’s stickers, gifts, and collectibles to attract users, as well as launching multiplayer mini-games on Telegram.