• TON launches a new messaging feature to upgrade the existing one to more private and encrypted exchanges. 

• This comes after the TON community proposed a deflationary mechanism in June to burn 50 percent of all transaction fees. 

The Open Network (TON) is reported to have introduced a messaging feature that enables users to send transaction details and messages on the blockchain. This is not new to the network as users have always exchanged messages among themselves.

This new feature is just an upgrade that encrypts messages and keeps them away from the public. In other words, messages would be encrypted end-to-end to double down on their privacy to the blockchain. 

Even in the event of an “Apocalypse” and the failure of conventional messenger servers, you will retain the ability to send messages via the decentralized TON blockchain. Rest assured that these messages will be reliably delivered and safeguarded through encryption.

According to the official announcement, the network fee for this transaction is 0.006 TON. This feature can be accessed by users with wallets such as  MyTonWallet, OpenMask, standard web, and desktop wallets. For TON mobile wallets and the Tonkeeper wallet, the message encryption would be available in the upcoming updates. 

It is important to note that The Open Network was created by the Telegram team, but was completed by the TON Foundation. It provides better scalability and transaction speed compared to the others in the Web3 ecosystem. Anatoly Makosov, a core developer of TON, has disclosed that the feature will add a layer of personalization to transactions. To explain this, users can add personalized messages like “For your school fees,” “for your birthday,” etc to transactions. 

TON Community Proposed Deflationary Mechanism

As part of the efforts to grow and advance the ecosystem, The TON Community in June 2023 proposed that a deflationary mechanism for TON be implemented to burn 50 percent of all transaction fees, transaction, and storage charges. Initially, the “black hole” mechanism was experimented with by some projects on the network. This involved sending Toncoins to some wallets with burn functions. Coins sent to these wallets are unusable and cannot be accessed. 

How this was supposed to be done from a technical perspective was explained: 

All the commissions in the shard’s block are summed up in the block’s header. When the block is getting registered in the masterchain by the masterchain validator, the commissions are added to the message which is sent to the Elector [contract]. After the launch of the deflation mechanism, the Elector will send only half of the transaction fees to the validators. Elector will send the remaining 50% to a black hole address, removing the coins from circulation. The TON Community proposed a burn ratio of 50% of the validators’ commission.

The team estimated that the immediate burn amount should be around 350-400 TON each day, and a 50 percent daily fee of 700-800 TON. Considering the fact that the number of daily transactions increases as the ecosystem grows, the burn amount would also grow and later decrease the total supply. Interestingly, the real-time burn would not affect the user holdings, and no action would be required from their side. 

Toncoin is currently trading at $1.38 and has made no movement in the last seven days. However, the asset has been down by 20 percent in the last 30 days.