TON Unveils 2025 Roadmap: Lightning Network, Accelerator Upgrade, and More

The Open Network (TON) has recently unveiled its roadmap for the first half of 2025, which includes several key upgrades to its core chain. The protocol has plans to launch a Layer-2 network this year, featuring nine updates aimed at boosting its capabilities and positioning it as a competitor to platforms like Ethereum.

The Layer-2 Payment Network is a key focus for the TON Core team to scale the TON blockchain. As outlined in the TON whitepaper, the payment channel network, described as the "Lightning Network" of TON, will facilitate instant money transfers between nodes. The roadmap emphasizes TON Core's goal of enabling instant transfers with micro-commissions and seamless asset swaps. The Payment Network will provide the necessary Layer-2 infrastructure to achieve these objectives.

The TON layer one engine focuses on scalability and decentralization, while the upcoming Layer 2 Payment Network will prioritize speed and low cost. While current speeds meet everyday user needs, the new network aims to handle high-frequency transactions, including on-chain trading and instant response gaming.

Currently in beta, the TON CORE team is testing and finalizing the prototype, adding support for jettons, additional currencies, and swaps, which will be rolled out in the next stage. The project's goals include the Accelerator mainnet upgrade, which will improve shardchain tracking and separate validator functions into two roles: collator (responsible for collecting transactions and generating block candidates) and validator (responsible for validating blocks).

The TON Core team is bringing BIG updates in H1 2025! Here's a sneak peek:

• Huge "Accelerator" Kernel update on Mainnet
• New tools for validators
• Revamped Toncenter API (Actions, Pending, Emulation, Domains)
• UX improvements + collab with top community products
• Payment Network launch