TON Blockchain Back Online Following Second Outage

The TON blockchain network has resumed operations following its second outage in two days.

The TON Community announced the news on its Telegram channel early Thursday morning, Hong Kong time, confirming that TON-based asset withdrawals and deposits via Wallet would soon be processed.

The latest disruption, lasting over four hours, was attributed to a “heavy load caused by DOGS token minting.”

TON Suffers Two Outages in Two Days

The recent outage follows a similar outage on Tuesday afternoon , U.S. time, which was resolved shortly after midnight.

Both interruptions were linked to the minting of the DOGS token, first identified by observers and later confirmed by the TON network.

Despite the setbacks, Toncoin, the native token of the TON protocol, saw an 8% increase in value following the news, according to CoinDesk Indices.

However, it remains below its previous levels before the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov.

Although Telegram and TON are legally separate, their close affiliation has drawn attention, particularly following Durov’s recent arrest in France.

He faces charges related to facilitating illicit transactions, child exploitation, and failing to cooperate with authorities, among other allegations.

DOGS Token Leads to TON Network Outage

The launch of the DOGS token triggered significant congestion on the TON blockchain, leading to an unexpected network outage.

The overwhelming demand for the airdropped DOGS tokens caused a massive surge in on-chain activity, straining the network’s capacity.

On Tuesday night, the TON blockchain’s official account on X reported a disruption in block production due to “abnormal load,” noting that approximately 20 million transactions had been processed in the preceding 48 hours.

Introduced in July 2024, DOGS is branded as the “most Telegram-native memecoin,” drawing its inspiration from Spotty, a mascot popularized by Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov.

The DOGS token has quickly gained a substantial following, with its official Telegram channel, Dogs Community, attracting nearly 17 million subscribers.

Additionally, the DOGS Community’s official account on X has amassed 3.9 million followers since its debut in July, positioning it alongside major players like Pi Network and Ethereum in terms of social media influence.

Durov Released on $5.56 Million Bail

Meanwhile, French authorities have granted Durov bail under strict conditions, including a payment of 5 million euros, reporting to police twice a week, and remaining within French borders.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau stated that the judge found sufficient grounds to formally investigate Durov on all charges for which he was initially detained.

These charges include suspected complicity in running an online platform that facilitates illicit transactions, distribution of child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking, fraud, failure to cooperate with authorities, money laundering, and providing cryptographic services to criminals.

However, a video shared by Russian state news agency RIA on Telegram, and later on X, appears to show Durov, dressed in black, wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, leaving the prosecutor’s office and entering a vehicle on Wednesday evening.