In recent months, TON has quietly grown into the hottest new blockchain network thanks to its social features and Telegram mini-apps powering a wave of creativity. Memecoins, safe token launches, USDT-powered DeFi, NFTs and much more are taking shape on Telegram Open Network, providing fresh opportunities for TON’s growing user base.
At the heart of TON’s surge in user adoption metrics has been Tonkeeper, the preeminent wallet for accessing the TON ecosystem. Available as a browser, desktop, and Telegram wallet, Tonkeeper is the gateway to all things TON, with a bunch of clever features making it a firm favorite with Telegram users.
While the Tonkeeper wallet has been designed for new users, with ease of onboarding and UI/UX a prime concern, it also packs a bunch of advanced features under the hood. These ensure that Tonkeeper has enough muscle to meet the needs of more experienced users.
TON Comes of Age
TON is on a tear. More than 43M wallets are now generating 6M transactions a day, while TON has become a top 10 crypto and is up 220% in six months. The number of active TON addresses is also up 6x since April. By whatever way you measure it, TON is now catching serious attention and a lot of this traffic is routed through Tonkeeper.
Tonkeeper isn’t the only noncustodial wallet for TON, but it’s arguably the most user-friendly and feature-rich. It also helps that as one of the earliest TON wallets, Tonkeeper has been there from the start, forming the most natural onramp to the Telegram ecosystem. Read on to learn what its wallet has to offer once installed and put to work.
Getting Started With Tonkeeper
As noted above, Tonkeeper’s noncustodial wallet is available in various formats. The browser extension is the most popular option, as it’s the quickest and most flexible way of entering the TON ecosystem. Think of it as the Rabby or MetaMask of TON. That said, the Tonkeeper desktop app and Telegram wallets are also highly accomplished.
Whichever one you choose, one of your first tasks after installing the wallet – or activating it on Telegram – is to back up your seed phrase. Telegram wallets require a 24-word mnemonic, which may be twice as long as those you’re accustomed to, but while this is a chore to note down it does make for a highly secure wallet that’s impossible to crack – which is exactly what you want.
If you’ve used a browser wallet such as Phantom or Rabby, Tonkeeper’s web wallet will require no introduction. Because it’s supported by platforms such as Dexscreener as well as TON-native DEXs like Ston.fi, Tonkeeper can be connected to dapps easily and then used to execute swaps and make other onchain transactions.
One good thing about the Tonkeeper web wallet is that it stays unlocked within your browser unless you choose to lock it. This saves time every time you fire up your computer and allows you to quickly view your balances. However, whenever you go to execute a DEX swap or other transaction, Tonkeeper will prompt you to enter a password. While this is understandable from a security perspective, it does add another layer of friction and cannot be disabled. Overall, though, Tonkeeper strikes a fair balance between usability and security.
Tonkeeper Features and User Flow
There’s a number of built-in features that make Tonkepper superior in many respects to comparable web wallets. For one thing, it automatically displays tokens that are added to your wallet instantly, whether they’re bought, transferred, or airdropped. It also displays their current dollar value with greater accuracy than other web wallets. NFTs are also automatically displayed; if they’re spam, you can hide them in two clicks.
Another good thing about Tonkeeper is its built-in token swap feature that does for TON what Phantom does for Solana. It’s fast, supports most tokens, and saves you from needing to navigate to DEXs such as Ston.fi to swap from, say, TON to USDT.
Aside from the usual features you’d expect such as a History tab for exploring recent transactions, and a Settings tab, Tonkeeper has, an integrated dapp browser. This is ideal for exploring the leading TON protocols and provides a decent snapshot of what can currently be done on the network.
What TON Does Different
As you begin using Tonkeeper to explore the TON ecosystem, you’ll discover that while the fundamental functions are the same as those of any blockchain network, TON does a few things differently. For one thing, there’s support for gasless transactions which means you don’t need to worry about having enough TON to cover network fees; you can pay for sending USDT, for instance, with USDT.
Tonkeeper Battery and Gasless are two features within the wallet that support this capability. The latter enables gasless transactions as described above. Tonkeeper Battery, meanwhile, is an off-chain account that pays fees on the user’s behalf when they don’t have enough for gas. The battery can be “charged” and then used to deduct fees for future transactions.
Having amassed more than 25M installs and 30M monthly active users, Tonkeeper is the leading TON wallet by some distance. It’s also got an active Telegram group with more than 4,000 members. With plans to add more new features, including a fiat onramp, Tonkeeper will keep getting better while serving as the premier pathway to entering the world of Telegram.
Image by Ümit Solmaz from Pixabay
