[TOKEN2049] TON CEO Eyes Telegram-Based Super App Push, Taps Korea as Core Market

Singapore — Max Crown, the new chief executive of the TON Foundation, says the blockchain tied to messaging giant Telegram is moving beyond infrastructure to become a full-fledged “super app” ecosystem — and South Korea will be central to that expansion.

“TON isn’t just another Layer-1 chain,” Crown said in an interview with TokenPost at Token2049 in Singapore. “It’s the foundation for a global ecosystem built directly on Telegram, where messaging, payments, gaming, and digital assets all converge.”

A former co-founder and CFO of crypto payments firm MoonPay, Crown took over as TON Foundation CEO in 2023. With Telegram’s 900 million users and a wallet now natively embedded in the app, he believes TON can onboard “the next billion users” without requiring them to download a separate application. More than 150 million wallets have already been created, a figure Crown aims to double within a year.

Korea Strategy: Localization, Listings, and Pop Culture Tie-Ins

Crown called South Korea “a natural fit” for TON’s ambitions, citing the country’s familiarity with “super app” models such as KakaoTalk. TON is already listed on Bithumb, and the foundation is pursuing additional listings and regional campaigns.

“Korea’s digital culture — stickers, fandoms, and IP — is a powerful tool for adoption,” Crown said, hinting at plans to collaborate with K-pop artists and to launch localized wallet and NFT integrations. He also noted that the country’s tight foreign exchange rules could make it a valuable testbed for stablecoin-based remittances and asset transfers.

Max Crown, CEO of the TON Foundation, poses for a photo after an interview with Sonny Kwon, Founder of TokenPost during the Token2049 conference in Singapore.

Focus on Real Utility Over Hype

While Telegram-based mini-games drove early awareness, Crown stressed that the next phase is about real-world use cases. “The goal is to make crypto as easy as sending a text,” he said. “People shouldn’t even need to know it’s blockchain under the hood.”

TON’s current grants target five verticals — GameFi, payments, DeFi, AI, and Telegram’s in-app economy — with an emphasis on quality over quantity. Crown said the foundation will soon announce a global card partnership with a “major brand” and is integrating with protocols such as Aave, Chainlink, and Wormhole to expand its DeFi footprint.

Global Push: From U.S. Payments to Emerging Market Remittances

In the U.S., TON plans to mirror models like Cash App and Venmo through peer-to-peer and split-payment features using stablecoins. “Our wallet is fully non-custodial, so it’s compliant and easy to use,” Crown said.

Emerging markets, however, may see TON’s fastest traction. “In Indonesia, the Philippines, and parts of Africa, demand for cheap cross-border transfers is exploding,” he said. “We’re working with Visa veterans and local payment partners to solve that last-mile problem.”

Tokenized Assets and DeFi OS Ambitions

TON is also entering the tokenized asset race. Through xStocks, a collaboration with Kraken and Backed, TON will enable fractional trading of 60 U.S. equities and ETFs directly within Telegram, starting in emerging markets. The project follows the foundation’s earlier Libre initiative to tokenize real-world assets such as Telegram bonds.

“In the future, anyone will be able to buy a slice of Tesla stock through their TON wallet,” Crown said. “TON is evolving into a decentralized financial operating system — one that could power securities, prediction markets, and even AI-driven finance.”

Looking Ahead

Crown projects that Telegram could reach 1.5 billion users within three years. By then, he envisions TON as “the non-China super app infrastructure” — a single environment for messaging, payments, games, and asset management.

“Korea will likely be the first place this vision comes to life,” he said. “It’s where culture, technology, and community meet.”