According to the Telegram TON Board channel, the first version of TON, the Telegram blockchain, will be released on September 1st.
The short message published today says:
“The development of the TON core technology is almost complete, according to sources close to Telegram. The version is expected to be launched by 1 September 2019: it will include a node code and the network validation module.
The TON team is finalizing the documentation for these tools. This will be the final version before the launch of the core network. The core network will be active after the public tests.”
So, it will not be the actual mainnet launch, but a working first version of the code to be used for testing.
The source of this rumour, the Telegram TON Board channel, is a private channel created by and for investors of the Telegram Open Network (TON), as well as for future major owners of Gram tokens.
The TON project roadmap was never very clear. Initially, it was assumed that the mainnet would be launched in the autumn of last year, whereas in February of this year there were rumours that 90% of it was already complete.
However, it is still under development, although the rumour from the TON Board channel would suggest an upcoming release, at least of a test version.
In the meantime, the pre-sales of Gram tokens have already started, although there are several doubts about it.
Precisely because of the uncertainties about the roadmap, and the slower development times compared to what has been declared, there are those who have included Telegram’s ICO among the most unsuccessful ever.
Between March and June of last year, 1.7 billion dollars were raised in two private sales of 850 million, and more than a year later, nothing substantial has yet been seen.
However, if TON Board’s rumour is correct, the project will finally be able to release something tangible, such as the open-source code of the network nodes and the validation module. On September 1st, it will be possible to know if this rumour is true and if so, the code can finally be analysed to evaluate the project.