‘Gerbil Struggle’ and ‘Feline Citizen’ Telegram Token Demand Could Disrupt TON, Devs Warn
Telegram’s tap-to-earn games have taken the cryptocurrency world by storm, bringing in millions of potential new users to The Open Network (TON). However, TON developers have issued a warning that the surge of Gerbil Struggle and Feline Citizen players claiming their reward tokens later this month may not be entirely positive for the network.
The TON Core team wrote in an official Telegram channel on Tuesday that TON will “undoubtedly face more technical pressures and possibly some unforeseen issues.” This warning comes as the network grapples with recent service outages caused by the explosion of tap-to-earn gaming and mini-app activity related to the messaging app Telegram.
Within the past two weeks, TON has seen daily active user addresses reach 1.1 million multiple times, with single-day transactions peaking at 14.4 million in anticipation of upcoming airdrops for popular tap-to-earn games like Gerbil Struggle and Feline Citizen, according to developers.
Feline Citizen, which has attracted approximately 35 million players to its Telegram app, will launch its CATI token on September 20, with an estimated 15 million players eligible to claim the tokens.
Gerbil Struggle, on the other hand, boasts a much larger player base, with over 300 million players as of late July, as claimed by the developers. Telegram in-app data also shows nearly 86 million active users in the last month alone. All players will be eligible for the HMSTR token airdrop on TON when it arrives on September 26.
“These levels of user engagement were unimaginable in Web3 before,” TON Core developers stated in the Telegram channel post.
TON’s surge in user activity driven by the Telegram gaming frenzy recently caused outages on the layer-1 network. Block processing on the network came to a halt for several hours twice in a single week last month.
According to TON developers, the root of the issue was the spike in user demand related to distributions of DOGS, a meme coin project inspired by a dog drawing from Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov. They claim that DOGS tokens are held by 4.5 million unique wallets on TON.
Service disruptions on TON could intensify again ahead of upcoming game-related airdrops and other events on the platform. Both events are likely to generate a surge in activity on TON as recipients strive to claim their rewards.
In preparation for these airdrops, TON developers have assured users that they will remain vigilant in addressing any network issues and overcoming any obstacles.
“We are unwavering in our commitment to building and addressing these challenges as we move toward mass adoption,” they wrote in the Telegram post.
Edited by Andrew Hayward