What is Free TON?
Free TON is a peer-to-peer multiblock system with a native TON Crystal token (TON). The Free TON platform is built on the TON protocol , which was developed by Nikolai Durov and the Telegram team.
Who launched Free TON and when?
Free TON has launched the Free TON Community , which includes more than 5,000 companies and individuals. Among the active representatives of the community are TON Labs, developer of application solutions for the Durov brothers' blockchain, investment companies Dokia Capital and Bitscale Capital, Kuna, Everstake, Chorus, Bitscale Capital, Anatoly Kaplan.
The launch took place on May 7, 2020. Along with the launch, TON Labs published on GitHub the main components of the TON OS operating system, an end-to-end infrastructure for working with the Free TON blockchain.
Were published:
- implementation of the full TON node in Rust;
- command line interface;
- TON Multisignature Wallet smart contract
- scripts and dock containers for launching TON validators.
Why and why did they launch Free TON?
The reason for launching Free TON was the failure of the team of Pavel Durov to launch the TON blockchain platform.
The Decentralization Declaration ( DOD ), which is actually a whitepaper of the project, says that Telegram can no longer participate in the development of TON due to litigation with the SEC. However, the TON ecosystem already has millions of lines of code created by the community, and this work should not be in vain, the authors concluded.
To avoid SEC claims, the Free TON community renamed the project and the name of the cryptocurrency. According to the signatories, the launch was not discussed with the Telegram team and TON investors. Residents of the United States are not allowed to sign the Declaration.
Durov did not prohibit TON Labs from using the name of his blockchain project and positioning himself as a TON technology partner.
According to the Declaration, the mission of Free TON is to promote the values ??of the free market, protect personal data, decentralized management, resistance to censorship and cooperation around the world.
Is Free TON a fork of TON?
Free TON is not a fork of TON since the latter was not launched. The new blockchain is based on the Telegram Open Network code, which everyone can use.
How decentralized is Free TON?
All signatories to the Decentralization Declaration agreed to maximize decentralization at the management, software development, validation, and user interface levels. Mandatory conditions for decentralization in the Declaration indicate:
- All coins are distributed among as many users as possible who can take part in staking;
- Several independent validators are involved in reaching consensus on the network;
- No validator or other party that is technically capable of participating in staking has more than 1/3 of all available TON Crystal tokens.
- Several development teams work in parallel on protocol design, including specifications, core software, compilers, interfaces, languages, and compilers.
What stages of development are provided?
According to the Declaration, Free TON will be implemented in several stages to ensure the smooth development of the protocol with the participation of the original developers and mass adoption.
1. At the first stage, code-named "Raging Bull", developers will be able to make changes to network configuration parameters, and SMV contracts will be calculated manually. At this stage, a decentralization bomb is implemented in the code - a timer that counts down until the developers lose the ability to make configuration changes. Decentralized pool contracts (DePools) will also be written, which will allow each user to participate in network management, regardless of the size of the steak.
2. The second stage, code-named "Fighting Fish" will begin at the moment the decentralization bomb fires. Control over the network configuration parameters will completely pass into the hands of validators.
3. At the third stage, code-named “Fight Club”, there will already be a lot of validators and decentralized pools in the network, and Free TON will achieve decentralization. Voting via SVM will be automated, and donor contracts will constantly distribute coins among new users.
How will the TON Crystal coins be distributed?
TON Crystal tokens will be distributed free of charge, and their total issue will be 5 billion.
Coins from the genesis block will be distributed among several donor contracts (Giver) - smart contracts that will not participate in staking or voting. Their only function is to automatically distribute TON to users. Coins will be divided as follows:
- 85% of all coins will receive Referral Giver contracts. Their task is to distribute coins to the first users and partners who will promote Free TON among their user base. If the partner’s contract contains more than 30% of all coins, then he cannot get more from Giver.
- 5% of all coins will receive the Validator Giver, which will distribute them among the validators.
- 10% of all coins will receive a Developer Giver contract, which will finance development. Of these, 5% will be received by TON Labs, the company that develops the TON OS operating system , which is necessary for working with the Free TON blockchain.
After distribution, tokens will be freely distributed among community members. Payments to the initial TON investors are not foreseen, as Free TON developers consider TON a separate project.
All decisions on the distribution of coins through donor contracts, platform management methods and the choice of a development strategy will be made by voting among coin holders through a simple majority mechanism, Soft Majority Voting (SMV). For example, if 10% of the holders vote “for” and 0% vote “against”, then SMV will consider the decision approved, because everyone who expressed interest and responsibility spoke out. If everyone votes, then the traditional principle of 50% +1 will work.
Where and how can I get TON Crystal tokens?
It is not yet clear where and how to purchase tokens. TON has not yet been traded.
What are the prospects for Free TON?
Optimists point out that Free TON is a high-tech project with the beginnings of infrastructure and a development plan, and even in its current form may be of interest to users.
Pessimists believe that without integration with Telegram and a huge messenger audience, the project will be useless. They note that the network is still unstable, and its support requires significant costs to pay for the work of the development team. In addition, powerful servers are required for validator nodes to work.
Telegram investors may consider launching an alternative platform in terms of opportunities to protect their interests and react negatively, up to lawsuits against Durov, since they funded the development of the blockchain, but did not receive benefits and tokens.
Pavel Durov expressed doubts that he would ever support alternative networks based on Telegram developments.
