The blockchain landscape is more competitive than ever, with innovative projects and promising initiatives pushing directly against each other for public support and exposure. One such project, the Open Network (TON), is attempting to revitalize its ecosystem through a unique strategy: leveraging Telegram's "Gifts" feature as a gateway to NFTs. This approach has proven successful in the early days, but it is unclear whether it can be sustained in the long run. This article will take a deeper look at TON’s strategy, assessing its potential and, more importantly, its trend compared to the historical trajectory of the NFT space.

Overview of Current Cyber Threat Landscape

The cyber threat landscape which today isn’t even a battlefield, it’s a three-dimensional chessboard. Everyday, organizations face the onslaught of advanced attacks such as ransomware and phishing. This explosion of threats should make deploying strong, universal, and efficient security solutions a top priority. Staying ahead requires a proactive approach, leveraging threat intelligence and adapting defenses to meet emerging challenges.

Recent Supply Chain Incidents Affecting Firms

Supply chain attacks have recently surged, looking for vulnerabilities in the complex web of networks shared by businesses. These breaches can affect the entire business, halting business operations, threatening sensitive data, and leading to potential million-dollar losses. Firms have a responsibility to faith shareholders not only to identify these threats, but to rigorously assess and manage the risks across their supply chains.

Rise in Vendor Email Compromise (VEC) Attacks in EMEA

Vendor Email Compromise (VEC) attacks are increasing, especially in the EMEA region. These attacks use vendors’ email systems to conduct impersonation attacks to steal sensitive information and introduce their attacks further downstream to the vendors’ clients. Organizations need to ensure that strong email security solutions are in place while giving employees the knowledge they need to avoid the perils of VEC.

Increased Cyber Security Spending Among UK SMBs

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the UK are waking up to the invasive reality of cyber crime. So it’s no wonder they are dramatically increasing their investment in this important arena. This is a sign they are raising their own understanding of the threats they face. They all understand just how damaging a cyber attack can be to their operations. In short, investing in security is quickly becoming a business imperative for SMBs.

Evolving Role of CISOs in Strategic Security Leadership

The CISO role is changing from a technical specialist to a strategic leader. As a result, CISOs have become central actors in defining their organization’s security strategy. They connect it to top line business goals and help translate security risks for executive leadership. This needs a much more composite skill set, with business savvy, greater communicative capacity, and even the ability to sway others’ decision-making.

The Impact of Ransomware on Critical Organizations

Ransomware attacks are still the most dangerous threat today to our vital lifeline industries, including hospitals, municipal government agencies, and public utilities. The latest attacks have knocked out medical services, endangered lives, and inflicted catastrophic economic losses. Cybersecurity protecting critical infrastructure from ransomware attacks should be an obvious national security priority.

Frequency of Ransomware Claims Remains Steady

Even with successful anti-ransomware initiatives, the rate of ransomware claims has been consistent. For one, today’s defenses are largely reactive, unable to stop attacks before they happen. To add depth to their security, organizations need to adopt a proactive and layered approach.

Importance of Threat Intelligence in Defense Strategies

Threat intelligence is critical to effective cyber defense. By gathering and analyzing information about emerging threats, organizations can better understand the risks they face and proactively adapt their defenses. Threat intelligence is one key resource that empowers organizations to be one step ahead of attackers.

Risks Associated with Rapid GenAI Adoption

The extraordinary pace at which organizations have adopted Generative AI (GenAI) technologies has created entirely new security risks. GenAI models can be weaponized to develop increasingly sophisticated phishing attacks, misinformation campaigns, and even more direct adversarial automation of malicious activity. Organizations should thoughtfully consider the security ramifications of GenAI and what protections need to be put in place.

Growing Threat from Teenage Hackers

The danger posed by teenage hackers isn’t new. The teen involvement in cyber crime is escalating. These hackers may go to great lengths. They usually have incredible technical talent and are often driven by a quest for fame or profit. It’s crucial that organizations understand this threat and harden themselves against it.

Geopolitical Considerations in Cyber Defense

Even more, cyber defense is becoming critically caught up with legitimate geopolitical strategic concerns. Cyber crime today, non-state, and particularly nation-state actors are heavily involved in cyber espionage, cyber sabotage, and cyber influence operations. Organizations need to be aware of the evolving geopolitical context of cyber threats and incorporate it into their security posture.

Governance, Risk, and Compliance Challenges

Cyber security governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) are critical organizational activities in protecting businesses from damaging cyber events and threats. This includes setting policy and procedural guidelines, conducting risk assessments and mitigation strategies, and complying with applicable laws and regulations. A well-designed GRC framework can help lay the groundwork for an effective security posture.

Types of Cyber Threats: Ransomware, Phishing, and More

Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and other emerging technologies are becoming instrumental in cyber security. By automating threat detection, analyzing vast amounts of security data, and responding to incidents more quickly and effectively, AI can significantly enhance cybersecurity efforts. AI could likewise be adopted by attackers to develop more advanced attacks.

  • Ransomware: Malware that encrypts data and demands a ransom for its release.
  • Phishing: Deceptive emails or messages designed to trick users into revealing sensitive information.
  • Malware: Malicious software that can damage or compromise computer systems.
  • DDoS Attacks: Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks that flood a system with traffic, making it unavailable.
  • Insider Threats: Security risks posed by employees or other insiders who have access to sensitive information.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Security

Insider risks have become the number one risk for organizations. Insiders with access to sensitive information—employees, contractors, vendors, etc.—can walk into a major security breach either on purpose or due to negligence. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) offer essential layers of security. Second, they’re on the lookout and actively preventing unauthorized access to their systems and data.

Insider Risks and the Importance of 2FA/MFA

Organizations face mounting pressures to adhere to a multitude of regulations around data privacy and cybersecurity. Examples of these are GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA. The failure to comply with these requirements can lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and reputational harm. Consequently, these organizations need to follow state-of-the-art security protocols to keep the sensitive data safe and comply with applicable laws and regulations.

Regulatory Compliance and Data Protection Issues

Attackers almost always rely on social engineering and fraud to trick people. Their aim is to deceive individuals into disclosing confidential information or engaging in behavior that compromises security. This means organizations need to raise awareness among their employees about the dangers of social engineering and institute programs to shield members of the workforce from such attacks.

The Impact of Social Engineering and Fraud on Organizations

A whole toolbox of tools and controls are available, and adoption of these dramatically improve cyber security. These include:

Tools and Controls for Enhanced Security

Vulnerability management is the practice of identifying, classifying, remediating, and mitigating vulnerabilities in systems and applications. A sound vulnerability management strategy should be the foundation of any organization’s approach to stop attackers from exploiting known vulnerabilities.

  • Firewalls: Network security devices that control traffic in and out of a network.
  • Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS): Systems that monitor network traffic for suspicious activity.
  • Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS): Systems that automatically block or mitigate malicious network traffic.
  • Antivirus Software: Software that detects and removes malware.
  • Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Systems that monitor endpoints for malicious activity and provide response capabilities.
  • Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): Systems that collect and analyze security data from various sources to identify threats.

Effective Vulnerability Management Strategies

Cyber security oversight cannot be overstated at the board level. It’s essential for board members to understand their organizations’ cyber security hazards. They need to take all effective steps possible to address those risks so as to avoid them. Best practices for cyber security oversight include:

Best Practices for Cyber Security Oversight at the Board Level

Cyber security threats challenges are different by sectors. Getting a clear sense of the unique risks that a given sector is up against is key to formulating robust security strategies.

  • Receiving regular briefings from the CISO on the organization's security posture.
  • Reviewing the organization's cyber security strategy and budget.
  • Ensuring that the organization has a plan for responding to cyber incidents.
  • Holding management accountable for cyber security performance.

Sector-Specific Cyber Security Insights

Today, executives are more vulnerable than ever to unique spear-phishing attacks. These precise, tailored efforts are designed to manipulate them into providing sensitive information. Smart attackers will study an executive’s background and interests in order to come up with a believable email address or other message.

New Spear-Phishing Tactics Targeting Executives

Leaving a digital footprint can expose them to risks from outside the organization. Attackers can exploit information you post to social media and other online platforms. They create tailored spear-phishing attacks, impersonate executives, slip through our door and steal the most sensitive information.

Hidden Risks in Executive Digital Footprints

The financial impact of cyber attacks on businesses can be catastrophic. Costs can include:

The Financial Impact of Cyber Attacks on Businesses

The cyber security landscape, as we all know, is a rapidly changing environment with new threats, technologies, and processes developing literally every day. It’s more important than ever to stay informed about these developments. Doing so is key to ensuring a robust security posture.

  • Direct financial losses from theft or fraud.
  • Business disruption and lost productivity.
  • Reputational damage and loss of customers.
  • Legal and regulatory fines.
  • Incident response and remediation costs.

Recent Developments in Cyber Security

A number of jurisdictions are in the process of enacting or have already enacted mandatory ransomware payment disclosure initiatives. These initiatives need organizations that pay a ransom to report the incident to law enforcement or other regulatory agencies. The aim is to improve transparency and make ransomware attacks less appealing.

Mandatory Ransomware Payment Disclosure Initiatives

Spending on cyber security is typically proportional to a company’s growth. As businesses scale, they find themselves more dependent than ever on technology. In order to protect and support their asset-based business model, they spend significantly more on cyber security.

Trends in Cyber Security Spending and Business Growth

High-profile cyber attacks are important reminders of how cyber intrusions can impact private organizations and public citizens. These targeted attacks can paralyze vital public and private services, expose sensitive personal information, and inflict billions of dollars in economic harm. They’re a timely reminder of the need to keep cyber security front of mind.

High-Profile Cyber Attacks and Their Consequences

Today’s cyber threat landscape is multifaceted and ever-changing. Organizations must adopt a proactive and layered approach to security, leveraging threat intelligence, implementing robust controls, and educating their employees about the risks they face.

Summary of Key Findings and Recommendations

Cyber resilience — the capacity of an organization to absorb, adapt, and recover from cyber attacks — is crucial. To accomplish this it will take both a blend of preventative measures, detection capabilities and incident response plans. Cyber resilience should be the goal for all organizations, with a focus on reducing the severity disruptions caused by attacks.

The Need for Cyber Resilience in Organizations

Given all of the above MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication) becomes essential in 2025 and beyond. Though it should be standard practice already. Attackers are constantly finding better ways to evade traditional security technologies. MFA provides necessary additional protection that greatly minimizes the risk of unauthorized access.

Importance of Multi-Factor Authentication in 2025

Building that bridge between CISOs and business leaders is imperative to achieving cohesive cyber security governance. CISOs need to articulate security risks in ways that business leaders can understand their importance. Business leaders must be invested in the CISO’s mission to protect the organization from cyber adversaries. By focusing on these two areas, CISOs and business leaders alike can work together to build a culture of security. Such a culture will protect the organization’s assets and position it to achieve its business objectives.

Bridging the Gap Between CISOs and Business Leaders

Telegram’s “Gifts” feature has evolved from an innocuous piece of chat decoration into a full-fledged trading platform. In June 2023, it reached an outstanding $3.5 million daily trading volume. The platform is easy to connect to the TON blockchain. This develops a whole unique ecosystem where the users can turn their “Gifts” into NFTs and trade them. This has launched TON to be the second-largest NFT ecosystem by volume, beating out Solana and only being behind Ethereum. This surge in activity has sparked considerable interest and raises the question: Can Telegram's NFT "Gifts" truly reignite TON's popularity and attract a wider audience?

The early success of Telegram “Gifts” can be given credit to a number of reasons. The Telegram app is surprisingly user-friendly and easy-to-use integrated. This accessibility lends itself to an incredibly broad audience — including those who may be intimidated by NFTs themselves. By gifting and showcasing these NFTs on user profiles, we’re creating a virtual social experience. Besides content discovery, this feature increases engagement and enhances users’ prestige. The ability to display up to six "Gifts" on a profile cover photo, introduced on March 7, enhances this social dynamic. This natural social connectivity sets TON apart from other NFT platforms that are typically siloed.

The original cost for a few rare “Gifts” has increased by over 25,000%. This rapid adoption has created a heavy feeling of FOMO (fear of missing out) with these users. Examples of small investments outpacing major investments by orders of magnitude have captured the imagination of speculative traders and created enormous trading volume. Plush Pepes that originally retailed for $30 can now resell for as much as $12,000. Likewise Durov’s Cap, which sold for $15, is now listed for $2,500. Combined with experiences like these, circulating widely through social media and Telegram channels, the hype surrounding Telegram “Gifts” has reached a fever pitch. Telegram founder Pavel Durov himself pushed Telegram “Gifts” on June 9th, boasting series with over 350,000% price hikes.

Whether this approach is truly long-term sustainable is yet to be determined. The NFT market is highly speculative and trends can often go by the wayside with little warning. To understand TON’s strategy and innovative features, it is important to contrast their approach with previous NFT trends and current platforms. Will the early excitement around Telegram “Gifts” lead to long-term usage and take-up, or will it fizzle out after a little while?

TON's strategy revolves around leveraging Telegram's massive user base to drive NFT adoption. By integrating NFTs into a popular social platform, TON aims to overcome the barriers to entry that have hindered the growth of other NFT ecosystems. Revolutionary “Gifts” functionality not only allows users to easily acquire and trade NFTs, but beautifully display them. This would introduce a whole new generation of creators and innovators to the thrilling new universe of digital collectibles.

TON's NFT Strategy: A Detailed Look

Telegram “Gifts” are digital collectibles users can purchase and send to one another. Or, they are a delightful medium to connect, flirt, or simply say thank you. Non-fungible Token (NFT) These “Gifts” can then be minted as NFTs on the TON blockchain and freely traded on supported marketplaces. Through this process, they forge a unique bridge between the social sphere of Telegram and the decentralized world of NFTs. The ease of use and social integration make those the most promising differentiators for TON’s approach.

The Role of Telegram "Gifts"

TON's journey into the NFT space has been marked by several key milestones:

Key Milestones in TON's NFT Journey

TON’s NFT ecosystem has been bolstered by many marketplaces that have been instrumental to TON’s NFT expansion. Interestingly, TONNEL, the biggest TON NFT marketplace, has occasionally overtaken OpenSea in daily trading volume on some days. Other prominent marketplaces include Getgems and Portals, which have achieved trading volumes comparable to established platforms like Blur and Magic Eden. These third party marketplaces offer the technical foundation for users to purchase, sell, and trade Telegram “Gifts” as NFTs.

  • October 5, 2024: Official introduction of the gift-sending feature on Telegram.
  • January 24, 2025: Telegram officially integrates "Gifts" onto the TON Blockchain.
  • March 7, 2025: Enhancement of social features, allowing users to showcase up to 6 "Gifts" on their profile's cover photo.
  • June 2025: Trading volume for Telegram collectibles surpasses $3.5 million.

Marketplaces Driving TON's NFT Growth

To understand the potential of TON's NFT strategy, it's helpful to compare it to other NFT platforms like Ethereum, Solana, and Flow. In essence, each platform is different and serves different aspects and segments of the NFT market.

Comparing TON's Approach to Other NFT Platforms

As the first mover in the NFT space, Ethereum is at the forefront of this technology. It remains on top in daily trading volume and overall market capitalization. Ethereum’s gas fees and scalability problems have significantly limited Ethereum’s mass adoption. Ethereum still has a huge ecosystem and a strong developer community. For all its strengths, its prohibitively high costs prevent smaller transactions and scare newcomers away.

Ethereum: The Pioneer

Solana quickly became a scalable alternative to Ethereum with lower transaction fees and higher processing times. This brought a flood of NFT creators and collectors looking for a cheaper and faster alternative. In addition to this, Solana has been hit hard with issues of network uptime and accusations of over centralization.

Solana: The Scalable Alternative

Flow is a blockchain built for gaming and entertainment NFTs. It also provides an easy-to-learn interface and it is powering the most demanding performance apps. Flow has recently found success in the sports and entertainment industries, with popular projects such as NBA Top Shot leading the way.

Flow: The Gaming and Entertainment Focus

TON stands out from these platforms with its unique and profound integration with Telegram. This has given TON a large head start on user acquisition and social engagement. By orienting around Telegram’s already massive user base, TON can bring millions of new users to the NFT ecosystem. TON still has work to do in addressing centralization concerns and proving that its ecosystem is sustainable in the long run.

TON: The Social Integration Advantage

There are a variety of factors that will determine the long-term sustainability of TON’s NFT strategy. These include:

Factors Influencing TON's Long-Term Sustainability

Even though pickup has been swift, keeping users engaged and developing a booming, lively community is key to achieving lasting success. TON has to continue adding value and creating strong reasons for users to continue participating on the platform. That could mean adding innovative new attractions, offering public programming and community engagement activities, and encouraging creative partnerships with artists and makers.

User Retention

The state of regulation is shifting quickly for NFT creators. Many remain unsure about the legal status and tax implications of these assets. Depending on how regulations change, we could see the expansion or diminishing of NFT adoption, specifically Telegram “Gifts.”

Regulatory Landscape

The NFT market is one of the most competitive spaces where new platforms and projects are coming up each day. TON must carve out a niche and stay ahead of the competition with standout features and a superior user experience.

Competition

In response to this, some critics have expressed concerns about the TON ecosystem’s centralization. In particular, they raise concerns about Telegram’s broad discretion to control the platform. Addressing these concerns and fostering decentralization across validators will be essential to building trust and ensuring the long-term sustainability of TON.

Centralization Concerns

Despite the initial success, TON's NFT gamble is not without its challenges and risks. The NFT market has a reputation for being volatile, and trends can often disappear just as fast as they emerge. While TON has many interesting opportunities in the space, we must not forget the possible pitfalls and things TON will need to overcome.

Potential Challenges and Risks

The NFT market is extremely vulnerable to rapid price fluctuations and speculative mania. The value of Telegram “Gifts” would plummet if market sentiment changes or a new shiny thing comes along. Those interested in market-making or trading should continue to understand the inherent risks and ensure they are not investing funds they cannot lose.

Market Volatility

First, NFTs are uniquely at risk for security issues like hacking, phishing scams, and smart contract vulnerabilities. To ensure their NFTs (and personal information) are safe, users should follow these safety tips. This means utilizing complex passwords, activating two-factor authentication, and avoiding clicking on questionable links or texts.

Security Risks

It remains to be seen whether as the TON ecosystem scales up, will it become challenged by scalability issues. The blockchain must be scalable to process an extremely high throughput of transactions without lagging transaction times or surging transaction costs. Solving these problems with scalability will be key to avoiding a poor user experience.

Scalability Issues

TON’s dependence on Telegram may be a double edged sword. While Telegram provides a massive user base and a convenient platform for accessing NFTs, it creates a dependency on a centralized entity. Shifts in Telegram’s policies or business strategy may prove harmful to the viability of the TON ecosystem.

Dependence on Telegram

The future of TON and Telegram “Gifts” remains to be seen. The early success of this strategy hints at tremendous potential. It has a chance to invigorate the TON ecosystem and attract a wider audience into the NFT space. TON has taken full advantage of Telegram’s huge user base. It provides a user-friendly and intuitive experience for buying, selling, and displaying NFTs, which helps it stand out in a crowded NFT marketplace.

The Future of TON and Telegram "Gifts"

The future of TON and Telegram "Gifts" remains uncertain, but the initial success of this strategy suggests that it has the potential to revitalize the TON ecosystem and attract a wider audience to the world of NFTs. By leveraging Telegram's massive user base and providing a simple and intuitive way to acquire, trade, and showcase NFTs, TON has carved out a unique niche in the NFT market.

Getgems' Vision