TAC: The Connector Between Ethereum and TON
How TAC Permits To Access Ethereum's Ecosystem to TON's Billion Users
A Tale of Two Ecosystems
In the bustling world of blockchain technology, two giants have emerged with very different approaches to the same goal: bringing decentralized applications to the masses. On one side, stands TON (The Open Network), the blockchain that powers Telegram's ecosystem. With over 1 billion monthly active users on Telegram, TON has something that most blockchain projects can only dream of: a massive, engaged user base that's already comfortable with digital communication and payments. These users can send messages, make payments, and interact with simple blockchain applications without ever leaving the Telegram app they know and love. On the other side, sits Ethereum's EVM ecosystem, the undisputed leader in decentralized application. With thousands of DeFi protocols, sophisticated smart contracts, and a mature developer ecosystem, Ethereum has become the foundation for everything from decentralized exchanges to lending platforms to complex financial instruments. For years, these two ecosystems existed in parallel universes, each serving their respective audiences but rarely intersecting. TON users enjoyed fast, user-friendly blockchain experiences but missed out on the sophisticated DeFi tools that crypto enthusiasts take for granted. Meanwhile, EVM developers had powerful tools and mature protocols but struggled to reach Telegram's massive user base without completely rebuilding their applications from scratch.
The Challenge of Cross-Chain Development
The technical barriers between these ecosystems are significant. TON uses its own programming language called Tolk and operates on a different virtual machine than Ethereum. For an EVM developer to reach TON users, they would need to:
• Learn an entirely new programming language
• Understand TON's unique architecture and development paradigms
• Rebuild their entire application from the ground up
• Maintain separate codebases for each ecosystem
• Navigate different deployment and testing processes
This is a massive undertaking that few developers are willing to tackle, especially when they already have working applications on Ethereum. The result? TON's billion users remain largely cut off from the EVM’s Ecosystem.
Enter TAC: A Different Approach
Rather than trying to force developers to rebuild everything, a new project called TAC is taking a different approach. Instead of asking developers to choose between ecosystems, TAC build a “bridge” that lets them serve both simultaneously. At its core, TAC is a Layer 1 with a TON-specific CrossChain Layer that connects Ethereum dApps and developers with Telegram’s users without exposing users to bridges, extra wallets, or wrapped assets. Think of it as an "EVM for Telegram", a way for Ethereum developers to reach Telegram users without leaving their comfort zone and viceversa. The architecture is clever in its simplicity. TAC operates as a complete EVM-compatible blockchain built on Cosmos SDK technology, but it includes a specialized messaging layer called the TON Adapter that handles communication between TON and the EVM side. When a TON user wants to interact with an EVM application, the TON Adapter securely routes their request, executes it on the EVM side, and returns the results seamlessly.
What This Means for Users
For the average Telegram user, this could be transformative. Imagine being able to access sophisticated DeFi protocols like Uniswap or Aave directly from your Telegram wallet, without needing to understand the underlying complexity or manage multiple wallets and bridges. A user could open a Telegram Mini App, connect their existing TON wallet (like Tonkeeper or Tonhub), and start swapping tokens, providing liquidity, or taking out loans - all while staying within the familiar Telegram interface they already know. Behind the scenes, TAC handles all the cross-chain messaging and asset bridging automatically. The user experience remains native to TON, but the capabilities are expanded to include the full range of DeFi tools that have been developed on Ethereum over the past several years.
What This Means for Developers
For developers, the appeal is equally clear. Instead of facing the daunting task of rebuilding their applications, they can deploy their existing Solidity contracts to TAC's EVM layer. The TAC SDK handles the cross-chain integration, meaning developers can focus on their application logic rather than becoming cross-chain experts. This opens up a massive new market for EVM developers. Suddenly, applications that were previously limited to the Ethereum ecosystem can reach Telegram's billion users without any additional development overhead. It's a classic case of "deploy once, reach billions."
The Technical Foundation
The technical implementation is sophisticated but designed to be invisible to end users.
The EVM Layer: Familiar Territory for Developers
At the foundation sits TAC's EVM Layer, a complete Layer 1 blockchain built on Cosmos SDK technology. This isn't a sidechain or a rollup, it's a full-fledged blockchain that happens to be EVM-compatible. Developers can deploy their existing Solidity contracts without any modifications, using the same tools they're already familiar with: Hardhat, Truffle, Remix, and other standard Ethereum development environments. The EVM Layer achieves approximately 2-second finality through delegated Proof of Stake (dPoS), making it significantly faster than Ethereum mainnet while maintaining the same programming model.
The TON Adapter: The Bridge Between Worlds
The TON Adapter is where the magic happens. Unlike traditional bridges that simply move assets between chains, the TON Adapter is a purpose-built messaging system designed specifically for application-level interactions. It operates as a distributed network of sequencers that monitor both TON and TAC EVM for relevant events. When a TON user initiates a transaction, multiple sequencers detect the event simultaneously and begin independent validation processes. These sequencers organize into groups that must reach consensus (3/5 agreement) before any cross-chain operation can proceed. This multi-layer validation system ensures that only legitimate, properly formatted transactions make it through to the EVM side. The sequencers use Merkle trees to batch transactions efficiently, and cryptographic proofs ensure that the operations are valid and tamper-proof. This approach provides the security of multiple validation layers while maintaining reasonable performance for real-world applications.
Proxy Apps: Making Complexity Invisible
The third layer consists of specialized proxy apps that handle the translation between TON and EVM ecosystems. Proxy Apps are the interface layer that makes hybrid dApps possible. They consist of smart contracts on both TON and TAC EVM that handle the complexities of cross-chain communication, asset management, and protocol translation. When a TON user wants to swap tokens on an EVM DEX, for example, the proxy apps handle everything behind the scenes: locking TON tokens, minting EVM tokens, executing the swap, and returning results back to TON. The user simply approves a transaction in their familiar TON wallet and receives the results, just like any other TON application. The user never sees this complexity, they simply approve a transaction in their TON wallet and receive the results, just like any other TON application.
Security Through Multiple Layers
The security model relies on several complementary approaches. Economic incentives ensure that sequencers have skin in the game - they must stake collateral to participate in validation, and they face penalties for incorrect operations. Cryptographic proofs provide mathematical guarantees that transactions are valid and haven't been tampered with. The architecture is designed for progressive decentralization, with the sequencer network moving toward full decentralization as the ecosystem matures.
Performance Optimizations
The technical design prioritizes user experience through several performance optimizations. Transaction batching allows multiple operations to be processed together, reducing gas costs and improving throughput. The use of Merkle trees for consensus formation minimizes the communication overhead between sequencers. The system also includes sophisticated error handling and rollback mechanisms. For example, if a transactions fail after asset transfers have occurred, the system automatically creates rollback messages to return assets to their original owners. This process uses the same consensus mechanisms as regular messages, ensuring that rollbacks are secure and verifiable. This technical foundation enables the seamless user experience that makes TAC's vision possible - users get the power of EVM developer with the simplicity of TON's interface, while developers get access to a massive new user base without the complexity of cross-chain development.
The Broader Context
This development comes at an interesting time in the blockchain space. As the industry matures, there's growing recognition that different blockchains serve different purposes and user bases. Rather than competing to be the "one true blockchain," projects are increasingly focused on interoperability and specialization. TON has carved out a unique niche as the blockchain for mass adoption through Telegram integration. Ethereum has established itself as the foundation for sophisticated DeFi applications. TAC's approach of building bridges rather than walls aligns with this broader trend toward ecosystem collaboration.
Looking Ahead
If TAC succeeds in its mission, it could represent a significant step forward in making blockchain technology more accessible to everyday users. By leveraging Telegram's distribution network and user-friendly interface while providing access to Ethereum's mature DeFi ecosystem, it could bring the benefits of decentralized finance to millions of users who might otherwise never experience them. The project is still in its early stages, and success is far from guaranteed. But the vision is compelling: a world where users don't have to choose between different blockchain ecosystems, where developers can reach the largest possible audience without rebuilding their applications, and where the benefits of DeFi, gaming and more are available to anyone with a Telegram account. We at Kintsugi are proud to be part of the TAC validator set, contributing to the decentralization and security of the network. If you're interested in supporting the chain's security, consider staking with us. Thank you!