TON Foundation (regional ops)

Abu Dhabi foundation registered under ADGM's DLT Foundations Framework that supports the TON blockchain and its community in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia-Pacific.

Industry: Blockchain infrastructure | Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Founded: 2024

About TON Foundation (regional ops)

The TON Foundation is the organisation that supports the development and adoption of The Open Network (TON), a blockchain closely tied to the Telegram messaging app. The network was originally introduced by Telegram co-founders Pavel and Nikolai Durov, who raised about USD 1.7 billion in 2018 for the project and its original Gram token. The foundation's own site is at ton.foundation. In December 2024 the foundation registered in Abu Dhabi under the DLT Foundations framework of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), according to ADGM's announcement and regional coverage including The Arabian Post. It became the second major blockchain project to join the framework after the IOTA Foundation. The registration gives the foundation a legal structure for working with decentralised organisations from the emirate, and it is presented as a regional base for the foundation's push in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia-Pacific. The foundation has stated a goal of reaching 500 million users by 2028. Steve Yun, then TON president, said the registration strengthened the foundation's position to collaborate closely with regional stakeholders and regulatory bodies. Leadership changed in January 2025. The Block and Bloomberg reported that Manuel Stotz was named president, succeeding Steve Yun, who remained on the board. The appointment was framed around growth in the United States. Stotz, a co-founder of Kingsway Capital Partners, was reported to have served with the foundation since its establishment in Switzerland in 2023. In July 2025 the foundation drew attention in the UAE when it announced, with the travel firm Peravel, a programme offering a route to a 10-year UAE Golden Visa for people staking USD 100,000 in Toncoin and paying a USD 35,000 processing fee. UAE authorities, including the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority and the Securities and Commodities Authority, said that visas were not being issued on the basis of digital asset holdings. On 7 July the foundation clarified that no official Golden Visa programme had launched in partnership with the UAE government and that no government endorsement had been granted, describing the effort as an exploration of how compliant, blockchain-based frameworks might eventually support access to residency pathways.

Leadership