Pantera Capital, a crypto asset manager, made an announcement on Thursday regarding its investment in TON, an altcoin operating on a layer-1 blockchain. This news sparked a modest rally for the asset.

Originally, TON was developed by the encrypted messaging platform Telegram as its native token. However, in 2020, Telegram separated from the project due to a legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Open Network, a community of developers, then took over the management of the technology.

Despite this separation, TON can still be sent by Telegram’s 700 million users within the platform without the need for long wallet addresses.

The decision to invest in TON was driven by its connection to Telegram, as stated by Ryan Barney, a partner at Pantera Capital. He believes that TON has the potential to introduce cryptocurrency to a wider audience due to its extensive usage within the Telegram network. With over 900 million monthly active users, Telegram’s messaging platform is known for its fast, secure, and future-facing features, which are used for personal and group communications, community building, content sharing, and more.

By leveraging Telegram’s large user base and seamless user experience, along with the growing ecosystem of TON, Barney believes that TON has the capability to become one of the largest crypto networks.

Following the announcement, TON’s price rose from around $4.75 in the early morning hours on Friday to $5.16 at the time of writing, representing an increase of over 8.5%.

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