Telegram is known to the world as one of the most prominent projects in the space, though it has been largely secretive about the development of the Telegram Open Network (TON). In a new investor update, The Block reported on the development of the project and how much more is left to finish before it is ready for the public.

The investor update states that the progress has reached 90% completion, which means it has progressed by 20% since September last year. Still, the use of percentages, as The Block points out, is not necessarily helpful, considering the public does not know the original amount of work that needed to be done. However, it does give an indication of the pace that Telegram is keeping, even though their testnet will not be happening until March of this year. Originally, TON was supposed to be released in January.

The testnet should be a major step for the company, considering that third-party developers will get a chance to use the platform that they will ultimately work on anyway. The cryptocurrency project has been eagerly anticipated by the entire community, along with Telegram users. With the userbase that Telegram currently has, it will be easy to bring in a new audience for the GRAM token. Still, even if the users on their database do not want to use GRAM, the easy access to cryptocurrency could spur more use in the industry as a whole.

Ultimately, the goal of the network is to offer a platform for decentralized applications, much like Ethereum. Telegram managed to raise $1.7 billion, making the sale one of the largest initial coin offerings (ICOs) of the history of cryptocurrency so far. The GRAM tokens were claimed by big-name investors, like Benchmark, Sequoia Capital, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Now, the only question is, how will the platform compete with the dApp-centric Ethereum? Considering the current standing of Telegram, it’s fairly likely that the early days will keep them within at least the top 10 of the cryptocurrency rankings on CoinMarketCap, based on market capitalization. With $1.7 billion as their current market cap, they already would be challenging the TRON token for their #8 ranking, but the excitement of the Telegram community may push them up higher. Right now, EOS is the holder of the 4th spot, which CCN believes that GRAM could challenge, considering that their market cap is only $2.125 billion right now.

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