Former Visa Exec Joins TON: Is This the Future of Payments or Just Another Cosmic Joke?

by

In a move that can only be described as either brilliant or utterly bonkers, the Open Network Foundation (TON Foundation) has decided to appoint former Visa executive Nikola Plecas as its new vice president of payments. Yes, you heard that right! A payments czar from the land of plastic cards is now steering the ship of digital currency. 🚀

Plecas, who presumably has a PhD in juggling financial partnerships and compliance regulations, will be responsible for shaping and executing TON’s payment infrastructure strategy. According to a blog post that was probably written while someone was sipping a very strong cup of coffee on May 28, he’s tasked with expanding the network’s capabilities for over one billion Telegram users. No pressure, right? 😅

“Joining TON Foundation represents an incredible opportunity to shape the future of payments on a truly global scale,” Plecas said, likely while staring into the abyss of financial innovation.

Plecas to lead TON’s new payment strategy

In a world where payments are as complex as a Vogon poem, Plecas will be leading the charge to build a payment architecture that is both globally interoperable and robust enough to handle the rising demand from developers, enterprises, and end-users. Because, of course, everyone wants to pay for their intergalactic snacks with a stablecoin. 🍕

Plecas brings a track record from his time at Visa, where he played a central role in crypto-related initiatives, including product development and global commercialization. He helped streamline on-ramp performance across multiple markets, which sounds impressive until you realize it’s just a fancy way of saying he made it easier for people to spend their money.

He also contributed to numerous fintech and crypto issuance projects and frequently spoke on Visa’s behalf at major industry events, probably while dodging questions about why we still use cash. 💸

TON Foundation Image

TON Foundation CEO Max Crown noted that payments are a core pillar of TON’s roadmap. “With deep industry expertise and a clear vision for scaling payment infrastructure, Nikola brings the experience and leadership we need to accelerate TON’s global growth.” In other words, they’re hoping he can work some magic. 🪄

CryptoMoon reached out to TON for comment but did not receive a response by publication. Shocking, I know!

Ethena offers USDe to Telegram users

On May 1, in a partnership that sounds like it was concocted during a particularly wild brainstorming session, decentralized stablecoin platform Ethena decided to team up with TON to make its stablecoins available to Telegram’s user base of over one billion people. Because who wouldn’t want to spend their time chatting and trading digital currency at the same time? 🤷‍♂️

The partnership will see the deployment of Ethena’s USDe (USDE) and Ethena Staked USDe (sUSDe) within the TON blockchain. The sUSDe variant will be integrated under the name tsUSDe, enabling Telegram users to access US dollar-denominated savings directly within Telegram. Because saving money should be as easy as sending a meme, right? 😂

Notably, the TON Foundation has also been closely collaborating with Tether, connecting TON to Tether’s USDt ecosystem with LayerZero in February 2024. It’s like a financial love story that no one asked for.

As part of its ambitious scaling plans, TON expects to connect its ecosystem to at least 100 chains, including Ether (ETH), Tron (TRX), and Solana (SOL). Because why stop at one when you can have a hundred? 🎉

Read More

2025-05-28 14:01