TON Marks Pantera Capital's Largest Investment in Web3
Pantera Capital has placed a substantial bet on The Open Network (TON), recognizing the immense potential of this blockchain.
TON Marks Pantera Capital's Largest Investment in Web3. Photo: Pantera
In a blog post published on May 8, Dan Morehead, co-founder and CEO of Pantera Capital, shared the rationale behind their recent investment in The Open Network (TON).
On May 2, Pantera Capital announced their funding into The Open Network while keeping the investment amount confidential. Now, Pantera's leadership has revealed that this is the largest funding deal the firm has ever made in the blockchain industry, given TON's substantial backing from Telegram's 930 million users.
Pantera Capital founder Dan Morehead said TON is the largest investment Pantera has ever made, but did not disclose the specific amount, nor the discounted price for purchasing TON tokens. Pantera had earlier said it would raise up to $250 million to purchase discounted SOL from…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 10, 2024
Before finalizing the agreement, Morehead met with Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov. Pantera's representative was convinced by the smooth user experience, commitments to not sell user data, and promises regarding app privacy. From this, Dan believes that TON has the potential to become one of the largest blockchains.
Pantera appears to be strategically aligned with its capital allocation strategy. Since last month, Pantera has announced plans to raise an additional $1 billion for a new investment fund. Pantera Fund V aims to focus on early-stage startups and blockchain assets.
The Open Network originated as a layer-1 blockchain built by the Telegram team in 2018, raising up to $1.7 billion. However, it faced pressure from the U.S. government during 2019-2020, leading to a handover to the development community.
TON's price has been resurging in recent months, buoyed by a series of positive news, including confirmation by Telegram for use as an advertising registration currency and revenue sharing, as well as plans for the app's IPO.
