TON Core Roadmap: What the Development Team Is Preparing for the Network in 2025

The TON Core team—the very people developing the fundamental technologies of TON—has launched its official Telegram channel and published the roadmap for 2025. In this article, we will break down the updates TON Core is preparing for the network in 2025 and where the development team is focusing its efforts.

TL;DR

A brief overview of the roadmap:

• The main network upgrade, the Accelerator Upgrade, infinite sharding, and stable transactions even under heavy load.
• Payment Network (Layer 2)—fast and cheap micropayments.
• BTC Teleport—a bridge enabling BTC transfers to TON without intermediaries.
• Toncenter API—a user-friendly transaction format with the ability to emulate them before sending.
• TOLK 1.0—an updated smart contract language with improved typing and automatic data serialization.
• Tools for validators—automatic notifications, penalties for inactivity, and DDoS protection.
• Sidechain research—potential solutions for high-frequency trading.
• Unified UX standards—simplifying interfaces in wallets and DeFi applications.

2024 Recap: What TON Blockchain Core Did to Prepare the Ecosystem for Upgrades

TON Network Growth and Peak Loads

2024 was a year of rapid growth for TON. On September 27, a record was set—701K new wallets and 18.1M transactions in a single day. Despite the immense load, the network withstood the pressure thanks to nine major core updates, which improved performance, reduced RAM consumption, and accelerated data processing.

TON Blockchain Optimization and Fee Reduction

• Fees were reduced 2.5 times through a user vote.
• Precompiled smart contracts were introduced, allowing developers to write code in C++ and reduce gas costs.
• Libraries for smart contracts were added, simplifying development and cutting expenses.
• Network resource management was improved, reducing the load on validators.

Launch of USDT on TON and Adoption of Jettons

• USDT on TON reached $1.2B in turnover within 8 months, processed 26M transactions, and gained support from 100+ platforms (Binance, OKX, MoonPay, etc.).
• TON Jettons are now supported by major CEXs, accelerating their adoption in the ecosystem.
• Mintless Jettons were introduced, enabling instant token distribution to millions of users.

Infrastructure Development and Technical Updates

• The TOLK programming language was introduced, improving typing and automatic serialization.
• Sharding architecture was enhanced, optimizing contract execution.
• Toncenter API Turbo Indexer was launched, speeding up API operations 10x.
• A node auto-update system was implemented, simplifying validator operations.

Security and Wallet Improvements

• Wallet 5.0 now allows paying fees in USDT, NOT, HMSTR.
• Multisig 2.0 received Ledger support and passed a security audit.
• TON Payment Network (Layer 2) entered testing—a system for instant micropayments.
• BTC Teleport testnet was launched—the first bridge for transferring Bitcoin to TON without intermediaries.
• Network protection against DDoS attacks was strengthened, and new penalties for validators were introduced.
• A monitoring system for suspicious transactions was implemented to prevent fraud.

Challenges and Their Solutions in TON Network

• In September, a second wave of network load occurred during the DOGS listing (50M MAU), causing transaction delays.
• The TON Core team quickly fixed vulnerabilities, updated validator penalty mechanisms, and prepared the Accelerator Upgrade, which will resolve overload issues.
• Additional stress tests were conducted, and traffic balancing mechanisms were upgraded.

In 2024, TON Core not only handled the ecosystem’s rapid growth but also laid the foundation for a major network upgrade in 2025. Now, let’s move on to the most important part—analyzing the TON Core roadmap for 2025 and the key changes coming to the ecosystem.

Roadmap for 2025

🚀 Accelerator Upgrade: Infinite Scalability

The main upgrade of 2025 is Accelerator Upgrade, which will make TON highly adaptive to any load. Validators will now focus only on the masterchain and specific shards, reducing hardware strain and ensuring stability even during hype cycles.

Another key improvement is splitting validators into collators (who form blocks) and verifying nodes (who validate them). This will enable parallel execution of tasks and accelerate transaction processing. Additionally, dynamic sharding will be introduced – a system that creates new shards when overloaded and merges them back when load decreases.

The update is in final testing and is expected in the first half of 2025, with a full release closer to the end of the year.

⚡ Payment Network: Fast Micropayments

Another major upgrade is Payment Network, which will introduce instant and nearly free transfers. This Layer 2 solution will allow micropayments to be made without recording each transaction on the blockchain—similar to Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.

This system is ideal for gaming, subscriptions, and commerce, where speed and minimal fees are crucial. Testing is currently underway to adapt the system to real-world use cases.

🔗 BTC Teleport: A Bridge Between TON Blockchain and Bitcoin

BTC Teleport is a decentralized bridge that will enable BTC transfers in and out of TON without intermediaries. Unlike traditional solutions, it uses cryptographic proofs, eliminating the need for trust in centralized services.

This bridge will open up BTC for use in the TON ecosystem – for trading, staking, and DeFi applications. The development is led by RSquad, supported by TON Foundation. The mainnet launch will happen after final testing.

DYOR TON API Upgrade

With DYOR TON API, you get access to coin prices, liquidity, holders, market cap, and other historical data. "But I can check it on the website," you may think. Yes, you can. But with the API, you get extended token information, which can help you build your own dApps. You will also get additional features soon, such as staking and Reward Pools.

🛠️ Toncenter API Upgrade

The updated Toncenter API will make interacting with TON more intuitive for both developers and users.

• Main improvement – Actions API, which will display transactions in a user-friendly format (e.g., "Exchanged 10 USDT for 10 DOGS" instead of raw technical data).
• Emulation API will allow testing transactions before sending, a valuable feature for DeFi applications.
• API will support TON DNS, simplifying blockchain interactions.

These improvements will help users better understand transactions and developers integrate TON into their products more efficiently.

💡 TOLK 1.0: A New Standard for Smart Contracts

TOLK 1.0 is an updated smart contract language for TON that simplifies development.

• Improved typing
• Automatic data serialization
• Support for popular IDEs (VS Code, IntelliJ IDEA)

This update is expected to attract more developers to the TON ecosystem. The full release will happen after integrating all features.

🔒 New Tools for Validators

In 2025, validators will receive automatic notifications for issues such as node performance drops or network failures.

• A new penalty system will make validators more accountable.
• Additional DDoS protection and enhanced security mechanisms will be introduced.

These changes will make TON even more decentralized, resilient, and secure.

🔬 Sidechain Research and UX Enhancements

TON Core is exploring the implementation of TVM-based sidechains – independent blockchains running alongside TON. This could enable high-frequency on-chain trading, complex computations, and enterprise solutions.

Additionally, TON Core will work on improving user experience (UX). In collaboration with DeDust DEX, MyTonWallet, and TonScan.org, developers will create guidelines for unified interfaces and transaction visualization, making blockchain interactions smoother.

Conclusion

The TON Core roadmap for 2025 outlines a major network upgrade, making it faster, more efficient, and more powerful. Scalability improvements, Layer 2 payments, BTC integration, and new developer tools will significantly expand the TON ecosystem’s potential.

If all plans are successfully implemented, TON won’t just be a fast network—it could become the gold standard for Web3. Now, we just have to wait and watch these updates roll out!