Pavel Durov said TON transfer fees will be cut by six times within a week, bringing the cost of a transaction down to about $0.0005. Based on the figures he shared, fees are set to move from roughly 0.00234 TON to about 0.00039 TON. The change follows the recent Catchain 2.0 upgrade and is part of the MTONGA roadmap.
The update is not only about a lower number on the fee line. Durov said TON is moving away from a model where charges fluctuate with network congestion and toward fixed pricing across the network. That means users should see more consistent costs regardless of activity levels. He also said that, under the same roadmap, most transactions could soon become fully feeless.
Catchain 2.0 reshapes both speed and settlement
The fee cut builds on the protocol upgrade. According to the source material, Catchain 2.0 increased network speed by 10x and introduced near-instant finality. With pricing and execution changing at the same time, TON is clearly pushing for a transaction experience centered on speed and very low cost.
The contrast with other networks is sharp. The source notes that Ethereum transaction fees often range from $1 to more than $10 during peak usage, while Bitcoin fees typically sit between $0.50 and $5. Solana is known for lower costs, but fees there can still spike during heavy demand. TON’s stated aim is different: keep pricing stable at a fraction of those levels and reduce the uncertainty tied to congestion.
Cheap transfers could support payments inside Telegram’s ecosystem
The pricing shift lines up with TON’s connection to Telegram. The source says the platform has more than 950 million users worldwide. Once fees move close to zero, small-value transfers become much more practical, including tipping, in-app purchases, and cross-border payments.
For developers, fixed fees matter as much as low fees. If on-chain costs stop swinging with bursts of activity, apps can plan payments and settlement flows with more predictable economics. The source also notes that network fees reflect activity levels and changes in token supply. If lower costs drive more transactions, token circulation could also be affected through burn mechanisms. For now, developers and users are watching how the revised fee structure performs as network activity rises.