YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Toncoin (TON) surprised the cryptocurrency markets today by surging over 10% in the past 24 hours. The sudden price rally comes after Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced he spent over $200,000 in TON tokens to purchase 10,000 semi-annual premium subscriptions to Telegram.
The same, according to him, will be distributed among users of his messaging app.
Durov’s announcement came on his official Telegram Channel.
The distribution will be a part of the app’s new “Giveaways” feature which the company announced earlier this week. The new addition allows users to randomly distribute prizes among the followers of their channels.
The highlight of the feature lies in the fact that it allows users “to quickly organize them [ giveaways] in a verifiable and transparent manner.”
For the uninitiated, Toncoin is a decentralized layer-1 blockchain developed in 2018 by the founders of Telegram. However, owing to regulatory concerns following pressure from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), they passed on the project to the TON Foundation, a decentralized community that runs it now.
Toncoin (TON) charts an 11-month high
The recent price rally saw Toncoin’s market cap briefly surge to the $10 billion mark. Its daily high above $2.70 charts a new high in almost one year. The last time the TON coin’s price reached these levels was back on Dec. 19 2022 when it hit $2.74.
Over the past month, since the Oct. 14 low of $1.92, Toncoin’s price has rallied nearly 40%.
However, Durov’s endorsement is not the only recent bullish development for Toncoin.
Earlier this week, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), granted its approval for TON and XRP. The body oversees the financial activities within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
This regulatory nod allows financial institutions operating within the DIFC to engage in transactions involving these tokens.
The approval placed TON on the list alongside Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC).
The community is now showing strong “buy” sentiments as the bulls rally to push Toncoin towards the $3 mark.
