The Open Network Foundation (TON Foundation), a non-profit organization supporting TON community, today announced the appointment of Mr. Nikola Plecas as its new Vice President of Payments, effective immediately.

Plecas will lead TON Foundation’s global payments strategy, overseeing the design, development, and scaling of payment infrastructure across the ecosystem. This includes managing key partnerships with financial institutions and service providers, ensuring regulatory compliance, and delivering seamless, secure, and scalable payment experiences for users across TON- and Telegram-based applications.

Powering Ecosystem-Wide Payments

In this role, Plecas will drive the evolution of TON’s payments architecture to meet the needs of a fast-growing user base spanning developers, businesses, and over 1 billion Telegram users. With a focus on interoperability, reliability, and innovation, he will collaborate closely with ecosystem partners to deliver new payment rails and expand global access to TON-based financial products.

“Joining TON Foundation represents an incredible opportunity to shape the future of payments on a truly global scale,” said Nikola Plecas, Vice President of Payments of TON Foundation. “With over a billion users in Telegram and a rapidly evolving wave of innovation taking place on TON, my mission is to unlock seamless, secure, and scalable payment experiences that power the next generation of apps and services.”

Deep Expertise at the Intersection of Payments and Digital Assets

Plecas brings extensive experience in payments, digital currency, and financial technology. At Visa, he led global commercialization for the company’s crypto team, working on improving existing flows and early product development. During his tenure, he played a pivotal role in executing strategic initiatives and partnerships with major players across the financial ecosystem.

He also spearheaded Visa’s global on-ramp optimization efforts—improving authorization and fraud rates across regions—and defined Visa’s digital currency client engagement model in Europe. His work included supporting dozens of fintech and crypto issuance deals globally and representing Visa in media and at major industry events.

“Payments are central to TON’s mission of delivering decentralized services to mainstream users,” said Max Crown, CEO of TON Foundation. “With deep industry expertise and a clear vision for scaling payment infrastructure, Nikola brings the experience and leadership we need to accelerate TON’s global growth.”