Telegram's "The Open Network" (TON) recorded more daily active addresses than Ethereum almost every day this month. While this could be seen as a silent "flippening" fueled by a massive user base, it needs to be qualified.
TON surpasses ETH in daily active users
Artemis data shows that TON and Ethereum have been fighting neck and neck since May 17, when TON first overtook Ethereum. TON has gone from strength to strength since the beginning of June, beating Ethereum on 10 of the first 11 days, even reaching a record 568,300 daily active addresses on June 3. This progression underlines TON's growing adoption, reflecting its potential to seriously rival the leading blockchain platforms.
The integration of Tether and the launch of Telegram Stars
The increase in activity on The Open Network could be attributed to the recent integration of stablecoin Tether (USDT) on TON and the 35 million users who have signed up to Notcoin since its launch five months ago. Telegram also launched Telegram Stars, an embedded currency used to make digital purchases, on June 6. These developments have significantly boosted engagement and usage of the TON network.
The importance of Layer 2 on Ethereum
However, part of the picture is missing. By pushing Ethereum transactions to Layer 2, much of the ecosystem's user activity is on Layer 2 scaling solutions, making the comparison less fair. For example, three of Ethereum's main Layer 2s, Arbitrum, Base and Optimism, alone recorded 1.3 million daily active addresses on June 11.
