In-depth Analysis of The Open Network TON Part 2: Beyond Blockchain

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Originally developed as a blockchain project by Telegram, it was taken over by the TON Foundation after a rebranding. Its current market value has now reached close to the top ten. The TON (The Open Network) project aims not only to build a public chain but also to establish a more complete web3 network ecosystem. With this vision in mind, TON has already launched services such as TON Payment lightning network, TON Storage P2P file sharing protocol, ADNL Protocol network protocol, and TON DNS domain name system.

This article will introduce the current status of this infrastructure and the applications it can bring.

TON Payment

Although the transaction fees on TON itself are not high, it introduced TON Payment early on based on the classic L2 solution, the "lightning network." The basic concept of the lightning network is to establish a payment channel between two users through smart contracts, pre-pledging a sum of funds. As long as the transaction amount does not exceed this fund, the two users can conduct numerous instant transactions off-chain and settle the balance only when necessary.

Since TVM supports some special operations related to Merkle Proof, allowing transactions to carry conditions, TON can also interconnect these channels to form a network. Through this network, users do not need to establish exclusive channels with each trading partner. For example, if there is a channel between Alice and Bob, and another between Bob and Carol, when Alice wants to transfer money to Carol, she does not need to establish a new channel. Alice can first forward the funds to Bob and set the transaction to be completed only when Bob transfers the money to Carol as per Alice's request. This reduces the number of channels users need to establish, allowing more funds to be pledged in a single channel to increase the tradable amount.

The foundation has already proposed smart contract templates for the aforementioned lightning network architecture. However, the whitepaper also specifically mentions that this is not the only solution; users can also establish a network using virtual payment channels, creating a Layer 3 under the lightning network Layer 2. In the example given earlier, the settlement rules between Bob and Carol's channels can include the settlement balance between Alice and Carol. This way, apart from the final settlement, when Alice transfers money to Carol, it does not need to go through Bob for the transfer.

Related Content: Understand the Lightning Network in Three Minutes!

TON Network

ADNL Protocol

The TON blockchain and TON Network are not the same; in fact, the TON blockchain is built on the ADNL protocol of the TON Network. ADNL is TON's self-developed network protocol, emphasizing privacy and security. This protocol includes built-in and mandatory encryption and verification mechanisms, replacing traditional centralized SSL certificate authorities.

TON Storage

TON Storage is a P2P file sharing protocol based on Torrent running on the TON Network. Through TON Storage, users can store files in a decentralized manner on the network and share them with other users.

Similar to a typical Torrent network, if an uploaded file is to be kept, at least one node must voluntarily store the file. However, users can also provide rewards to nodes willing to lend storage space through smart contracts to ensure that files can be continuously accessed. With the integration of TON Storage and the TON blockchain, including rent payment and ensuring that nodes actually store files, can be done on-chain through smart contracts. There are currently correspondingclient programs available without the need for centralized service intervention.

TON Proxy

TON Proxy serves as the entrance to the TON Network. The foundation provides three public nodes for testing and offers many tutorials on setting up self-built Proxy nodes.Tutorial. Currently, ordinary users mainly use the Proxy feature provided by some TON plugin wallets to browse content on the TON Network in regular browsers. However, during the event on November 10th in Dubai, foundation members claimed they would launch a Chromium-based TON browser that will natively support TON Proxy and integrate Web3-related functions, somewhat similar to Brave overall.

TON DNS

The TON blockchain itself has native DNS and corresponding ".ton" domain names that can point to websites on the TON Network, wallet addresses, or files on TON storage. These domain names are sold in the form of NFTs through smart contracts, with different starting prices based on the length of the domain (shorter domains are more expensive). Anyone can initiate the first bid to start an auction for an unowned domain NFT, with the highest bidder winning, and the amount paid by the winning bidder will be permanently locked in the contract, creating deflation.

TON Site

With the complete Storage, Proxy, and DNS infrastructure on the TON Network, developers can now host nearly fully decentralized static websites on the TON Network. Developers can store web files in TON Storage and point their .ton domain names to the web files on TON Storage through TON DNS. This way, users can find and display web pages located on TON Storage using a .ton domain through TON Proxy on a browser. Therefore, a TON Site significantly reduces reliance on centralized services compared to traditional websites.

TON DNS can also point to more complex web pages; developers only need to enable the TON Proxy client on their own hosting server and set up a reverse proxy. This allows them to obtain an ADNL address pointing to their server and link their .ton domain to this ADNL address. Consequently, .ton domain names can be used to point to any Web2 page. Additionally, the foundation has mentioned that the current TON Proxy is in version 1.0, and they plan to release TON Proxy 2.0, which can hide the hosting server's IP, providing higher anonymity.