Institutional Use Cases on TON: Building the Next Generation of Financial Infrastructure

Introduction

Institutions are no longer only exploring blockchain in theory - they've started to deploy the technology to production. From global remittances to tokenized treasuries, real-world financial use cases are moving on-chain to leverage the unique blend of scalability, performance, and transparency that blockchains offer.

TON Blockchain (TON) has emerged as a preferred Layer 1 for enterprises and fintechs looking for scalable, cost-efficient, and user-friendly infrastructure. Offering near-instant finality, negligible transaction costs, and native integration with Telegram's 1bn+ active users, TON has the potential to bridge traditional finance and Web3 at an unprecedented scale.

This article highlights how institutional players are already using TON across payments, stablecoin issuance, asset tokenization, and embedded finance.

Stablecoin Issuance and Payments: USDt on TON

The launch of USDt on TON in April 2024 marked a major milestone. By December 2024, authorised issuance had surpassed $1.43 billion, placing TON among the top five blockchains for USDt activity.

Institutions now use USDt on TON for:

• Cross-border remittances: enabling dollar transfers in seconds at minimal cost.

• Merchant and treasury operations: instant, final settlement with global reach.

• Retail integration: frictionless access through Telegram-native wallets like Wallet in Telegram, Tonkeeper, and MyTonWallet.

USDt acts as a fully digital dollar payment rail for enterprises that's immediately accessible to hundreds of millions of Telegram users. By using USDt on TON institutions can reduce payment latency, counterparty risk, and operational overhead.

Embedded Finance and Tokenization Inside Telegram

TON enables financial products to live where users already are: inside the messenger platform. Businesses can issue, distribute, and manage digital assets natively within Telegram, removing the need for external onboarding or new app downloads.

Through TON Wallet, the self-custodial wallet in Wallet in Telegram, users can send funds using only a Telegram username. Mini-apps like Storm Trade allow trading of crypto and traditional assets, while Notcoin redefined SocialFi by integrating gaming, community engagement, and digital asset rewards.

This embedded model opens the door for a whole host of use-cases including:

• Tokenized loyalty programs and tipping systems

• In-app subscriptions and commerce

• Token-powered micro-economies and creator monetization

For Web2 brands, this provides an opportunity to onboard communities to Web3 without any of crypto's historical complexity by allowing them to reach users directly in an interface they already trust.

DeFi and Institutional Treasury Solutions

TON's DeFi ecosystem has matured rapidly, evolving from retail experimentation to institutional-grade liquidity management. Platforms like STON.fi and DeDust now facilitate swaps, liquidity pools, and stablecoin yield products with transparent, auditable on-chain settlement.

Enterprises can leverage TON DeFi to:

• Deploy corporate reserves into stablecoin liquidity pools

• Earn short-term yields on idle capital

• Support early-stage liquidity for TON-native projects

User-friendly interfaces like Wallet in Telegram and Tonkeeper simplify access, while underlying protocols provide the sophistication needed for treasury-grade use cases. Together, they form the foundation for large-scale institutional liquidity on TON.

Yield-Bearing Stablecoins: Ethena's USDe and tsUSDe

The integration of Ethena's USDe and tsUSDe in April 2025 brought a new dimension to TON's institutional toolkit. These synthetic dollar instruments offer yield without market volatility, achieved through Ethena's delta-neutral hedging strategy - where opposing positions offset crypto price movements.

In practical terms, tsUSDe functions like a tokenized money market fund: stable in value, but with steady on-chain yield. This makes it ideal for:

• On-chain treasury management

• Yield-bearing payment rails

• Low-risk institutional DeFi exposure

The arrival of Ethena underscores TON's evolution beyond payments - toward a full-stack financial ecosystem capable of supporting sophisticated, yield-based products.

Institutional Readiness: Compliance, Custody, and Scale

For institutional adoption, compliance and operational assurance matter as much as performance. TON's architecture provides:

• Transparent, auditable ledgers for settlement verification

• Custodial integrations with regulated service providers

• Native KYC and access control options for compliant asset issuance

• Cross-chain compatibility, ensuring interoperability with existing Ethereum-based stablecoins and custody systems

Combined with sub-second finality and ultra-low fees, these capabilities make TON an ideal platform for regulated fintechs, payment firms, and asset managers entering Web3.

Conclusion

The institutional phase of blockchain adoption is here, and TON is positioned at its center. From stablecoin settlements and tokenized assets to embedded finance and yield-bearing treasuries, enterprises are already leveraging TON's infrastructure to build the next generation of financial applications.

For builders and institutions seeking to reach real users, not just wallets, TON offers the rare combination of institutional-grade performance and mass-market accessibility. With over a billion users just a message away, the next wave of institutional innovation is already taking shape on TON.