A significant disruption has affected the Telegram Open Network (TON), preventing the production of new blocks for over three hours. On August 28, a recent launch of a new memecoin named DOGS on the network led to a surge in trading activity, triggering the issue.
Tonk Inu, a community platform on TON, reported that an overwhelming influx of DOGS transactions led to a “network overload,” preventing the network from processing transactions. This overload has also affected the network’s validators, who were unable to reach a consensus due to the high transaction volume.
As a result of the outage, ByBit, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has paused all deposits and withdrawals involving TON’s native token. This disruption has caused a noticeable decline in the token’s market value, which has dropped approximately 24% since the start of the incident.
The DOGS memecoin, which was launched on August 27, quickly gained traction, with $1.7 billion in trading volume in its first ten hours and a peak market cap of $891 million. However, its price has since decreased from an initial high of $0.0018 to around $0.0013.
The network’s downtime coincides with a broader context of volatility in the cryptocurrency market, including significant drops in Bitcoin and Ethereum prices. This market instability has contributed to substantial liquidations across the crypto space.
In response to these challenges, the TON Society recently rebranded its symbol to the “Resistance Dog” as a show of solidarity for Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who was just detained in France. This rebranding aligns with a broader effort to support free speech and privacy rights, with an ongoing petition on Telegram advocating for Durov’s release.
