Last week, despite the market downturn, industry giants TON Foundation and Walrus Foundation announced a series of million-dollar deals. This news once again boosts confidence in the crypto market.
TON Foundation shifts after CEO Durov’s reinstatement
TON Foundation announced that it has secured over $400 million in funding. Several big features joined this deal, including Sequoia Capital, Benchmark, Ribbit Capital, Libertus Capital, Kingsway, SkyBridge, Vy Capital, CoinFund, Hypersphere, Draper Associates, and Karatage. Specifically, this deal succeeded right after Telegram CEO Pavel Durov had his freedom of movement restored from the French authorities in August 2024.
Source: Crypto Fundraising
Unlike traditional fundraising rounds, which investors typically fund with equity or cash, TON Foundation raised this funding entirely in Toncoin through token sales. This move reflected strong investor confidence in TON’s long-term potential.
This major investment not only expands the TON ecosystem but also reinforces its position as a key infrastructure for Web3, with Telegram serving as a gateway to introduce hundreds of millions of users to the crypto world.
Following the news, TON’s price TON surged nearly 10%, rising from $3.60 to $3.75, bringing its market capitalization close to $9.3 billion.
Source: Coingecko
The TON Foundation is a non-profit organization behind The Open Network (TON), a decentralized layer-1 blockchain, established in Switzerland in 2023. With a mission to bring Web3 to billions of users via Telegram, the TON Foundation supports community projects by providing funding, coordination, and ecosystem development.
In 2024, Telegram and TON strengthened their collaboration. The integration of TON Wallet into Telegram has fueled the growth of tap-to-earn games, attracting hundreds of millions of players, with standout titles like Hamster Kombat and Notcoin.
Walrus Foundation raised $140 million from a16z
Walrus Foundation has announced a $140 million funding round through the sale of WAL tokens. It is the organization behind the Walrus decentralized storage protocol built on the Layer 1 Sui blockchain. The round was led by Standard Crypto, with participation from major investors including a16z Crypto, Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, RW3 Ventures, Electric Capital, Lvna Capital, Creditcoin, Karatage and Comma3 Ventures.
Walrus Foundation plans to use the funds to expand its operations, maintain its decentralized data storage protocol, and further develop its application platform.
Alongside the funding announcement, Walrus Foundation confirmed that the Walrus mainnet will officially launch on March 27, 2025, unlocking new possibilities for data storage and utilization. The mainnet will support applications ranging from AI datasets and huge media files to websites and blockchain history, advancing its mission to transform storage into an interactive, programmable resource.
Additionally, Walrus Foundation revealed details about WAL tokenomics, with a total supply of 5 billion WAL and an initial circulating supply of 1.25 billion WAL.
Happy blobday to those that celebrate. We bring exciting news!
1️⃣ Walrus Mainnet will be live on March 27
2️⃣ Walrus Tokenomics unveiled 📊
3️⃣ $140M secured in funding to make data truly programmable— Walrus 🦭/acc (@WalrusProtocol) March 20, 2025
Walrus is a decentralized storage platform built on Sui, originally developed by Mysten Labs. It enables any application to publish, read, and program large data files. Developers can use Move-based smart contracts on Walrus to manage both on-chain and off-chain data files, known as blobs, ensuring full support throughout their storage lifecycle.
Learn more: What Is Sui (SUI)? The Ultimate Guide to the Sui Network
