Steve Yun, former president of the TON Foundation and now a board member, has highlighted the need for democratization within the Mini Apps ecosystem on Telegram.
Steve Yun, former president of the TON Foundation and now a board member, has highlighted the need for democratization within the Mini Apps ecosystem on Telegram. During an interview at the BUIDL 2025 conference in Hong Kong, Yun discussed concerns regarding perceived favoritism toward certain applications, which has drawn criticism from the community.
He emphasized the importance of equitable exposure for all projects to foster growth within the ecosystem.
Yun pointed out that the ongoing decline in network activity, with Toncoin's market cap dropping from $25 billion to $7.3 billion in the past year, can be traced back to various challenges, including Pavel Durov’s arrest. He noted that despite these setbacks, the ecosystem has not collapsed and continues to develop new languages, Tolk and Tact, aimed at attracting builders.
A significant hurdle for TON is the current advertising model on Telegram, which Yun described as untargeted. He suggested that allowing users to opt-in to receive advertisements could enhance engagement and revenue generation.
"If I can make $500 passive income just by watching some ads that are relevant to me," he stated, "it’s a powerful approach."
Yun also addressed the foundation's efforts to expand its payment applications and the Mini Apps ecosystem, acknowledging the limitations in transaction processing compared to competitors like Solana. He stressed the importance of U.S. expansion, highlighting the necessity for listings on prominent exchanges and the establishment of stablecoin assets within the TON network.
To support the growth of new start-ups, Yun recently launched a $100 million fund through his venture capital firm, TVM Ventures.
He aims to deploy a significant portion of this fund by the end of the year to boost liquidity for emerging DeFi projects within the TON ecosystem.
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