TON Foundation Launches $500M Telegram Bond Fund on TON Blockchain

The TON Foundation has announced the launch of a $500 million tokenized fund on The Open Network (TON), marking one of the largest institutional real-world asset (RWA) deployments in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector to date. This fund, known as the Telegram Bond Fund, aims to bring Telegram’s $2.4 billion in corporate debt onto the blockchain, providing institutional and accredited investors with direct exposure to Telegram’s outstanding bonds through the TON blockchain.

The fund will not only offer access to existing bonds but will also participate in future Telegram bond offerings. Additionally, it will serve as collateral for borrowing and yield-generating strategies within the TON ecosystem. This initiative is part of a broader trend in the DeFi space, where traditional financial products are being tokenized and integrated into blockchain ecosystems.

Libre, a regulated real-world asset platform, will manage the fund’s subscriptions, redemptions, and custody via TON wallets. Libre’s infrastructure supports fiat and stablecoin transactions under regulatory oversight, ensuring compliance and security for investors. The TON Foundation, which has operated independently since 2020, continues to develop features that integrate with the TON blockchain, including wallet access and username auctions within the Telegram app.

Both Libre and the TON Foundation have plans to expand tokenized access to a broader range of global financial products in the coming months. Libre has previously tokenized over $200 million in assets from major institutions, including asset managers such as BlackRock, Brevan Howard, Hamilton Lane, and Nomura’s digital asset arm, Laser Digital. These tokenized funds will also become available on TON, providing access to a broader suite of institutional-grade financial products.

The launch of the Telegram Bond Fund comes at a time of increasing activity in the RWA space. The popularity of tokenized financial products has been growing, with significant investments and partnerships being announced. For instance, BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, the largest tokenized U.S. Treasury product, has crossed over $2.5 billion in market capitalization. Stablecoin issuer Circle recently acquired Hashnote, the manager of the $1.25 billion USYC fund, with plans to connect it to its USDC ecosystem. In the Middle East, Dubai-based developer DAMAC signed a $1 billion deal with Mantra, a Layer-1 blockchain for RWAs, to tokenize real estate, data centers, and other physical assets.

This growing interest in tokenizing traditional financial products reflects a broader shift in the financial industry towards integrating blockchain technology. The total value locked in RWA protocols now exceeds $11.14 billion, more than doubling in the past year. This trend shows that firms are increasingly looking to bring traditional financial products like U.S. Treasuries, corporate bonds, and real estate into blockchain ecosystems that historically focused on crypto-native assets. The tokenized U.S. Treasury market, for example, has experienced significant growth, with a total value locked of approximately $6.16 billion.