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Tokens in the TON ecosystem that were recently listed on major cryptocurrency exchanges have experienced a significant decline.
The largest tokens by market capitalization within the TON ecosystem have seen a sharp drop in the past few days. Compared to their all-time highs (ATH), the decline has reached between 30% and 50%.
Notably, many of these tokens were recently listed on major exchanges. Specifically, Dogs has dropped by 4.92%, Hamster Kombat (hmstr) by 5.02%, and Catizen (cati) by 18.53%. The Toncoin (ton) token has also seen a substantial decrease, falling more than 8% over the past week.
The market capitalization of TON ecosystem tokens continues to decline, with trading volumes dropping over 27% to $675 million. The ratio of buy and sell orders on the Binance exchange indicates that traders are eager to offload tokens that were once in high demand.
DOGS plummeted by 58%, but developers have a plan B
Since its listing on August 26, the DOGS token, with 81.5% of its supply coming from the community, has dropped over 58% to $0.0006599. Notably, there is no vesting period, allowing users to trade their DOGS immediately after the airdrop, which led to rapid selling following the listing.
In light of the recent price collapse at the end of September, the DOGS team announced plans for a token burn to reduce the total supply. Typically, token burning is intended to enhance value, with asset holders voting on the amount of unclaimed coins to be removed from circulation.
Hamster Kombat did not live up to expectations after the airdrop
At the time of listing, the coin price on some exchanges peaked at $0.014, but a wave of sell-offs quickly diminished its worth. Since its launch on September 26, the token has lost 50% of its value.
The catalyst for this decline appears to be the problematic airdrop and listing process. Users voiced frustrations over unfair reward distributions, delays, and changes to the rules, as well as the low starting price for HMSTR trades. Many participants found it challenging to sell their tokens, with some only receiving a couple of dollars as rewards for engaging with the project.
Additionally, selling tokens was complicated by restrictions on opening orders imposed by several exchanges.
Despite the sharp decline in price, open interest in HMSTR Futures has remained stable, holding steady at around $60 million since the beginning of October, according to Coinglass.
In many ways, Hamster Kombat repeated the story of Catizen — another Telegram-based project that disappointed users after the airdrop.
An unexpected change in the rules of the game or why they started to dump CATI
CATI recently released a report highlighting the top decliners among tokens in the TON ecosystem, noting that, similar to other projects, its price has dropped by 50% since September 20.
The rise and fall of Catizen mirrors the trajectory of Hamster Kombat. Just before the distribution began, the team unexpectedly altered the game’s rules.
Initially, 43% of the total CATI token supply was allocated for players. However, the developers changed the terms, resulting in the community receiving only 30%.
The dissatisfaction among community members didn’t stop there. Shortly after the airdrop, it became clear that spending within the game affected the criteria for token distribution, giving those who invested money a significant edge over those who contributed time.
Many players shared their experiences of achieving top rankings yet receiving minimal rewards. Consequently, a wave of discontent spread across social media, marked by the hashtag #catizenscam.
Why Telegram project tokens continue to fall
Airdrops have long been a popular strategy for attracting users, with many projects launched on the Telegram platform utilizing this approach.
Tokens from projects like Dogs, Hamster Kombat, and Catizen have actively awarded users coins for simple actions. However, tokens distributed through airdrops often struggle to maintain long-term interest and value.
As a means to boost engagement and distribute tokens widely, airdrops seem to have lost their effectiveness, with users becoming increasingly saturated with such offers.
For instance, KeyRock experts analyzed 62 airdrops across six blockchains since the start of 2024. Their findings revealed that 88.7% of the tokens experienced a significant price decline within 90 days following distribution, with only a handful showing any signs of sustainability.
In contrast, smaller airdrops have demonstrated greater short-term resilience, likely due to reduced selling pressure at launch. However, even these tokens tend to decline in value over a three-month period.
Additionally, as Telegram-based games are still relatively new, it remains uncertain whether demand will sustain. This uncertainty contributes to users’ inclination to sell off their tokens, ultimately putting downward pressure on prices.
CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn noted to crypto.news that newly launched tokens in the TON ecosystem typically follow a familiar hype cycle.
“Initially, short-term expectations tend to be excessively high, while long-term expectations are often underestimated.”
Maartunn, CryptoQuant analyst
Among the recently launched coins, Hamster Kombat has emerged as one of the most popular. However, Maartunn cautioned that many meme coins are likely to fail over time. Only those with solid fundamentals and a robust network are expected to endure in the long run.
