TON Ecosystem in Telegram Ads: Toncoin, Notcoin, Hamster Kombat and the Native Blockchain Surge (2026)

TON (The Open Network) occupies a unique position in Telegram advertising: it's the only blockchain whose projects advertise on the same platform that created them. Pavel Durov's endorsement, Telegram's 900M+ user base, and the frictionless wallet integration (TON Space built into Telegram) give TON a structural distribution advantage no other blockchain has.

Since 15 June 2026 the network's coin, formerly Toncoin, is called Gram (GRAM); the blockchain, wallets and ecosystem keep the TON name (announcement). TON projects that pay for ads in the coin now do so through the Gram cabinet (formerly the TON cabinet).

tgadsspy.com indexes over 85 TON ecosystem creatives — the highest concentration of native-blockchain advertising in any category.

Top TON Ecosystem Advertisers#

The Tap-to-Earn Phenomenon#

2024 saw the emergence of "tap-to-earn" games native to Telegram: Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, Catizen. These games drove unprecedented Telegram ad volume in Q2–Q3 2024:

• Notcoin: peaked at 35M daily active players before its token launch (NOT airdrop, May 2024). Telegram ads drove waitlist signups → token claim flow.
• Hamster Kombat: 300M registered users at peak — the largest gaming phenomenon in Telegram history. Ads promoted the HMSTR airdrop pre-TGE.
• Creative hook: "Play 5 minutes a day → earn crypto." Zero-friction onboarding via Telegram Mini App.

Tonkeeper — Wallet Advertising at Scale#

Tonkeeper is the leading self-custody TON wallet. Its ads target:

• Users receiving TON from tap-to-earn games
• USDT on TON users (growing alternative to USDT on Tron)
• NFT buyers in Getgems marketplace

Creative pattern: "Your TON, your keys — store in Tonkeeper." Leverages self-custody angle identical to MetaMask/Trust Wallet post-FTX messaging.

USDT on TON: The Rising Rail#

Tether launched USDT natively on TON in 2023. By 2025, TON became one of the top 5 USDT networks by transfer volume. This created a new advertising angle:

• P2P USDT trades settled on TON (lower fees than Tron, faster than ERC-20)
• Telegram P2P groups settling USDT via @wallet bot
• TON-native DeFi (Ston.fi, DeDust) advertising USDT pools

Structural Advantage: Native Distribution#

Unlike every other blockchain advertising on Telegram, TON projects can:

1. Distribute airdrops directly via @wallet bot
2. Use Telegram Mini Apps (no app store friction)
3. Target Telegram Premium users (higher engagement)
4. Leverage the Telegram Stars payment system

This structural integration makes TON ad CPMs command a premium — Telegram's own ecosystem benefits from the captive distribution.

Geographic Distribution#

TON skews toward Telegram-heavy markets: Russia/CIS (Durov's roots), Southeast Asia (tap-to-earn), and Turkey. The Russian-language TON community is the largest by absolute number; Vietnamese and Indonesian communities are the fastest-growing.

Regulatory Context#

The TON Foundation is registered in Switzerland. Telegram processes TON-based payments via @wallet (Wallet in Telegram) and TON Space. No major jurisdiction has explicitly regulated TON-based mini apps as securities. The Hamster Kombat/Notcoin airdrops were structured as "games with utility tokens" to avoid securities classification.

How to Cite#

Telegram Ads Spy Research. "TON Ecosystem in Telegram Ads." tgadsspy.com, April 2026. https://tgadsspy.com/blog/telegram-ads-ton-ecosystem-2026

Methodology#

Data from Telegram Ads Spy's Telegram sponsored ad archive, collected by our automated pipeline. TON vertical identified by domain matching (ton.org, tonkeeper.com, getgems.io, ston.fi, dedust.io) + can_report: true flag (Gram-cabinet payment source, stored under the historical label TON). ~85 creatives as of 2026-04-23. Live: /api/v1/ads?vertical=ton-ecosystem · CC-BY-4.0.

Continue your research#

• Live creatives — browse Ton Ecosystem campaigns in the Telegram Ads Spy archive; filter by date, brand and country.
• The cluster — every Ton Ecosystem advertiser on Telegram indexed in the archive.
• Related topics — Web3 Gaming.
• Directories — niches · advertisers · channels.