TL;DR
- Telegram’s exclusivity agreement with TON forces the Farm Frens team to delay their FREN token airdrop until February, causing frustration among the community and developers.
- The developers criticize TON’s “closed network” and the lack of prior warning about the new rules, which they claim undermine decentralization and freedom.
- Despite the delay, Farm Frens will continue to launch its token on the Base layer-2 network, choosing decentralization over TON’s closed ecosystem, which aligns more with their core values.
Farm Frens, a popular mini-game on Telegram, has announced a delay in the launch of its FREN token airdrop, now scheduled for February. This delay follows the developers’ frustration with Telegram’s recent decision to require all mini apps with cryptocurrency functionality to exclusively use The Open Network (TON). The team argues that this new restriction, imposed with short deadlines and no prior notice, disrupts their ability to meet their original roadmap.
Telegram’s move, announced on January 21, mandates that all mini apps integrated with blockchain technology must migrate to TON and its proprietary TON Connect protocol within 30 days. This exclusivity requirement has sparked backlash from developers, as many feel Telegram’s shift toward a centralized solution goes against the decentralization ideals that co-founder Pavel Durov once championed.
Farm Frens voiced their concerns on X (formerly Twitter), expressing disappointment at the contradiction between Durov’s original principles and the current direction. The team argues that this sudden change forces them to modify their game’s roadmap, leading to the delay of the FREN token airdrop.
Farm Frens has chosen not to migrate to TON and will proceed with their token launch on the Base network, an Ethereum scaling solution backed by Coinbase, to preserve their commitment to decentralization and scalability.
Telegram’s Shift to a Closed Ecosystem
The exclusivity agreement between Telegram and TON mandates that all projects with blockchain functionality on the platform must use TON, with other blockchain options being disabled after the 30-day transition period. Telegram has stated that this move is aimed at ensuring a secure and scalable user experience. In exchange for migrating to TON, Telegram is offering up to $50,000 in grants to eligible projects.
However, this has left many developers, including Farm Frens, with limited options. The team has decided to remove on-chain interactions from their game for now and plans to expand the project to other platforms.
Despite these setbacks, the Farm Frens project remains highly anticipated. Players eagerly await the FREN token airdrop, which will reward game participants and NFT holders tied to the studio’s upcoming tower defense game, Everseed. The airdrop snapshot was finalized on January 20, and token distribution is still on track for February.
As the crypto ecosystem continues to evolve, the tension between centralized platforms like Telegram and the decentralized ideals of blockchain developers becomes increasingly evident.
