Toncoin Price Doubles Following Telegram's Declaration of Direct Control and Fee Reductions, Controversy Over Undermining 'Decentralization' Values Heats Up

In the first week of May 2026, the value of Toncoin (TON) more than doubled in a single week, sparking intense debate over the network's future. While investors cheered the surge from $1.32 to nearly $3, critics point out that Telegram's direct operational control and its ascent as the largest validator represent a betrayal of the decentralization spirit that is the foundation of cryptocurrency.

Toncoin's rally began at approximately $1.32 on May 1, 2026, reaching a peak of $2.90 during intraday trading on May 7. During this process, its market capitalization swelled to approximately $7.8 billion, and on May 5, daily trading volume exceeded $1 billion, proving the market's explosive interest.

A major announcement by Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on May 4 served as the decisive catalyst for this rally. Durov declared that Telegram would replace the existing TON Foundation as the primary driving force of the network and would directly participate as the network's largest validator within the next two weeks.

Telegram will replace the TON Foundation as the primary driving force of the network and will participate as the largest validator within the next two weeks.

This change in governance means that the giant messaging platform Telegram has seized practical control over blockchain operations. While the market viewed the direct participation of a large corporation as a positive development, the prevailing analysis is that it has simultaneously resulted in the network's decision-making structure becoming dependent on a specific company.

Six-fold Fee Reduction and Technical Overhaul

Among the technical changes announced alongside the transfer of operational rights, the most notable is the drastic reduction in transaction fees. Durov lowered network costs to approximately $0.0005, which is six times lower than before, and stated that the long-term goal is a 'zero-fee' model where users hardly notice the costs.

• Immediate reduction of transaction costs to approximately 0.00039 TON
• Removing barriers to entry for 1 billion users and driving mass adoption
• Advancing organic integration with the wallet service within the Telegram app

This change in the economic model is a strategy to maximize user influx, but it presents the challenge of deteriorating profitability for existing validators who relied on fee revenue. In effect, Telegram has shown its intention to fill this profitability gap by taking over direct operations as the largest validator.

However, decentralization purists strongly criticize these moves as abandoning the 'core promise' of blockchain: censorship resistance and distributed power. They point out that a structure where a specific company monopolizes a significant portion of validation authority directly contradicts the value of distributed networks that cryptocurrency aims for.

Outlook for the Second Half of 2026 and Risks

The key to future growth lies in the launch of the 'Stars' revenue-sharing model scheduled for the third quarter of 2026. Telegram plans to create continuous on-chain demand by building a circular economy system where advertisers use Toncoin to run ads and share the revenue with creators.

Experts believe that if this system is successfully established, Toncoin could attract interest from institutional finance. However, regulatory risks due to centralized governance and the issue of securing liquidity in a low-fee model remain tasks to be solved.

As of May 9, 2026, Toncoin continues its stable trend, showing a strong presence at the top of the market capitalization rankings. While Telegram's gamble of direct control led to a price explosion in the short term, the key in the long run will be how it balances technical innovation with decentralization.