The team behind The Open Network (TON), the popular blockchain that taps into the Telegram messaging platform, said that it is coming out with its own layer-2 network based on Polygon’s technology. The team made the announcement on Tuesday at the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) in Brussels, Belgium,
The new protocol, known as the TON Applications Chain (TAC), will utilize Polygon’s Chain Development Kit (CDK), a flexible toolkit that allows developers to build their own layer-2 blockchains using Polygon’s zero-knowledge technology, as well as Polygon’s AggLayer, their interoperability layer for addressing blockchain fragmentation.
As per a press release shared with CoinDesk, TAC is “designed to facilitate EVM-based decentralized applications to TON’s ecosystem” while also enabling Ethereum developers to create new applications for Telegram’s users.
“TAC is poised to significantly improve liquidity access and hasten DeFi adoption for the TON ecosystem,” the TON team stated in the press release. “Beyond DeFi, TAC will open the door for a variety of innovative applications on the TON blockchain, including gaming and decentralized identity solutions.”
This development comes as other prominent blockchain firms have been exploring their own layer-2 networks in the past year. In August, crypto exchange Coinbase introduced its “Base” blockchain with Optimism’s OP Stack, initiating this trend. Subsequently, protocols like Celo and Worldcoin have disclosed their intentions to launch layer-2 rollups with OP Stack, and crypto exchange OKX also unveiled a layer-2 in April named “X Layer” utilizing Polygon’s CDK.
“We opted to build on the Polygon ecosystem due to its EVM compatibility, AggLayer’s EVM liquidity bridging, comprehensive deployment support, and Polygon’s EVM expertise,” explained Pavel Altukhov, the founder of TAC, in an email to CoinDesk. “The active community surrounding Polygon also played a pivotal role in our decision.”
Read more: Crypto Exchange OKX’s Polygon-Powered Layer 2, ‘X Layer,’ Hits Public Mainnet