Tomarket, a popular Telegram game playable on the messaging platform as a mini app, is ditching its original plan to launch its token on The Open Network (TON) and will instead deploy TOMA on rival layer-1 network Aptos.

With 50 million total users and 6 million daily active users, Tomarket will launch its TOMA token on December 20, with an airdrop to players who met certain criteria within the game.

Tomarket has handed out allocations of tokens across multiple airdrop waves, but players have been unable to withdraw or trade the token. The app’s developers previously said that the TOMA token was generated, but clarified afterwards that the term was used to describe token allocations within the app. And now, Tomarket won’t ultimately deploy to TON.

"Aptos’ high speed and reliable infrastructure provides the scalability Tomarket needs to support its growing user base while delivering smooth, efficient blockchain experiences,” a Tomarket core team member who goes by Miles told Decrypt.

Following next week’s token launch, Tomarket plans to expand its offerings, including introducing more games, enhancing its FarmingPool rewards program, and launching an aggregator of decentralized exchanges, or DEXs.

Most Telegram-based crypto games, including heavyweights like Hamster Kombat and Notcoin, have opted to deploy on TON, helping to drive adoption of the chain this year. TON is now the 16th most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap, per data from CoinGecko, rising in price by about 190% over the past year.

Tomarket isn’t the first game to choose an alternative path, however: tap-to-earn combat game MemeFi recently launched its token on Sui, after pivoting from its original chain of Ethereum layer-2 network Linea.

Edited by Andrew Hayward