Whitepaper
On-chain monetization stack for streamers & their communities on TON
1. Abstract
Tonation.me is a non-custodial donation platform that helps streamers receive crypto support directly to their wallets on The Open Network (TON). Today, Tonation powers on-chain donations in TON, USDT and approved jettons, real-time alerts, and multi-language text-to-speech (TTS) overlays, with a transparent fee model and no custody of user funds.
This whitepaper describes:
The market context and problems with existing donation tools
Tonation’s design principles and current implementation
Our roadmap: on-chain supporter identity (SBTs/NFTs), “any token in” donations via TON DeFi, NFT-powered alerts, a Telegram mini app with play-to-earn mechanics, tournaments, and the $NATION token
How we plan to use protocol revenue to reinforce the token and ecosystem (buybacks, liquidity, and potentially burns governed by the community)
No part of this document is investment advice. It describes an existing product and a realistic roadmap based on work that is either already shipped or actively planned.
2. Market Context
2.1 Creator & live streaming growth
The creator economy and live streaming are among the fastest-growing segments of digital media. Estimates place the global live streaming market around $90–100B in 2024, with projections of $345–600B+ by 2030–2033 at roughly 14–24% CAGR.
At the same time, the broader creator economy is already above $200B and projected to exceed $1T in the 2030s, as direct fan monetization becomes a core revenue channel for individual creators rather than platforms.
2.2 Web3 gap in streaming
Despite this growth, most tools that power donations and tipping are:
Fiat-first and geo-limited: They rely on traditional payment processors, suffer from chargebacks, and often exclude entire regions.
Custodial: Platforms hold creator funds, exposing them to platform risk and withdrawal delays.
Web2 by design: Even “crypto-friendly” services usually treat blockchains as a payment rail, not as a way to build verifiable, on-chain relationships between creators and their communities.
Web3-native streaming and tipping experiments exist, but they are still rare compared to the scale of the streaming market. Most are niche products or focus on speculative token economies rather than solving daily problems of streamers (stable income, simple setup, community engagement).
3. Problem Statement
For streamers who want to use crypto today, the main issues are:
Custodial & region-locked tools Traditional donation platforms control payouts, may freeze funds, and often don’t support TON or Web3-native workflows at all.
Manual token swaps for viewers Viewers and creators hold many different tokens. In most setups, fans must manually swap into a specific coin before sending a donation. This extra step breaks spontaneity, lowers conversion, and makes small donations less likely.
Fragmented asset management for creators Streamers who do accept multiple tokens end up with a “basket” of assets and no unified on-chain view of who their real supporters are or how engaged those supporters remain over time.
No on-chain fan identity There is rarely a simple, verifiable system of statuses, achievements, or “passports” that links a supporter’s on-chain activity (donations, participation) with their identity in the community.
Complex UX for non-crypto natives Many Web3 tools assume users are comfortable with seed phrases, networks, and gas. For large audiences (especially on mobile), this is a non-starter.
Tonation is built to solve these problems specifically for streamers and their communities on TON.
4. Tonation Overview
4.1 Mission
Tonation’s mission is to turn creator support into a verifiable on-chain relationship between streamer and fan - not just a transaction.
We do this by:
Keeping donations non-custodial and on-chain
Minimizing friction for both streamers and viewers
Using NFTs, SBTs, and on-chain data to reflect identity, loyalty, and status in a way that is actually useful to streamers and fun for supporters
4.2 What exists today
The live product already provides:
Non-custodial donations on TON
Donations are processed by smart contracts on the TON blockchain.
Funds go directly to the streamer’s wallet; Tonation never holds user funds.
Token support
TON (native coin), USDT on TON, and a list of approved jettons.
Transparent commission
A clear fee is automatically taken by the smart contract at the moment of donation.
Historically this has been structured around a 5% fee on donations; exact fee levels can be adjusted via protocol parameters and campaigns.
Customizable alerts & TTS
Real-time overlays for streams (Twitch, Kick, etc.)
Multi-language text-to-speech (currently English, Russian, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese) delivered via SSE-based infrastructure.
Instant setup
Streamer registers, connects a TON wallet, configures donation settings (minimum amounts, moderation, filters), and drops a single link into their stream.
Organic traction
Over 110 registered users and real on-chain donations with almost zero marketing spend at the time of the pitch deck.
5. Design Principles
“Blockchain for relationships, not just payments” We use smart contracts not only to move money, but also to represent supporter status, achievements, and community membership on-chain.
Radical simplicity Every step - from connecting a wallet to sending a donation - is designed to be as simple as possible. If a feature makes onboarding harder, it must pay for itself in clear user value.
Non-custodial by default Tonation does not hold user funds; all donations go directly to streamer wallets via smart contracts on TON.
TON-first TON combines low fees, fast finality, and deep integration into Telegram. This gives Tonation access to a massive existing user base and extremely easy wallet onboarding.
Composable & open On-chain supporter data is designed to be reusable by future mini apps, analytics tools, and other ecosystem projects.
6. Why TON
6.1 Telegram distribution
Telegram passed 1 billion monthly active users in 2025, making it one of the largest messaging platforms in the world.
TON is deeply integrated with Telegram:
A TON-based wallet is built directly into Telegram for hundreds of millions of users globally; over 100M users had activated the wallet as of 2024.
Wallet access is available inside the app without browser extensions or complex setup, which dramatically lowers the barrier to first-time crypto use.
For Tonation, this means:
Potential access to hundreds of millions to ~1 billion people already using Telegram
A path where “create a crypto wallet” becomes a single tap inside a familiar messenger, aligning with our “the simpler, the better” principle
6.2 Technical & economic fit
TON offers:
Low and predictable transaction fees
High throughput and fast finality
Native support for smart contracts and tokens (jettons)
This makes it suitable for high-frequency micro-donations and real-time interactions during streams.
7. Current Architecture (High-Level)
(This section intentionally stays high-level and non-implementation-specific.)
7.1 On-chain layer
Donation contracts on TON
Receive donations in supported tokens
Instantly forward funds to streamer wallets
Apply protocol fees automatically at the smart contract level
Token support
TON and approved jettons (including stablecoins like USDT) are supported today.
Future
Integration with TON DeFi swaps so viewers can donate in any token while streamers receive a preferred asset.
7.2 Off-chain & application layer
Backend services
Handle user accounts, widget configuration, moderation rules, and mapping streamers ↔ donation contracts.
Connect to TON nodes for transaction monitoring and event handling.
Alert & TTS pipeline
Uses server-sent events (SSE) to deliver real-time donation and voice events to browser-based overlays.
Frontend & widgets
Next.js-based web app for streamer dashboards, donation pages, and alert overlays.
Simple setup: single link / browser source added to streaming software.
Security model
Streamers connect wallets via TON Connect; Tonation cannot move funds on their behalf.
8. Roadmap & Planned Features
All items in this section are planned features already reflected in our pitch deck and internal roadmap. They are not live yet at the time of writing.
8.1 Donate in any token
Goal: Viewers can donate from any popular token on TON; streamers receive their preferred asset (e.g., TON or a stablecoin), with swaps happening under the hood via TON DeFi.
Planned approach:
Integrate leading TON DEX aggregators
Implement “any token in, chosen token out” flows with clear routing and slippage controls
Preserve non-custodial design: swaps occur within contracts or via audited routing, not via Tonation-held funds
8.2 On-chain supporter identity (SBTs & “supporter passport”)
Goal: Give every supporter a persistent on-chain “passport” that reflects their history of supporting a specific streamer and the broader Tonation ecosystem.
Planned components:
Soulbound achievement tokens (SBTs)
First donation
Cumulative support tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and higher)
Non-transferable tokens representing real support, not speculation.
On-chain supporter passport
Aggregates SBTs across campaigns and streamers
Can be used by streamers to recognize core supporters, gate benefits, or invite them into private communities.
Tiered perks & visual hierarchy
Different supporter levels unlock different perks (priority in message display, specific alert styles, access to private content, etc.).
Donation messages reflect SBT tier with colors, animations, and priority placement in “top supporter” rankings.
8.3 NFT-powered donations & alert images
Goal: Turn donations into unique visual moments on stream.
Planned mechanics:
NFT alert attachments
Donors holding specific NFTs will be able to attach them to a donation.
The alert on stream displays the NFT image, making the donation visually unique.
This directly implements “donations via NFTs in the form of alert images”.
8.4 Helping streamers build communities
Tonation’s roadmap is explicitly community-focused:
On-chain supporter identities and SBT tiers help streamers identify and reward core fans instead of relying only on anonymous usernames.
NFT passes and achievements enable creators to run their own membership and loyalty programs, using Tonation as infrastructure.
Planned tournament mini apps (see 8.7) will give creators new formats (competitions, events) to keep their audiences engaged.
The goal is not just to move money, but to give streamers tools to structure and grow their community around verifiable on-chain engagement.
8.5 $NATION token
The $NATION token is designed as a utility and coordination layer for the Tonation ecosystem, not as a speculative standalone product.
Planned utility:
Reduced or zero donation fees when donating in $NATION
Staking by creators to unlock better fee terms and pro features
Planned value capture:
A share of protocol revenue (donation fees, mini-app boosters, NFT/SBT services) directed toward buybacks and liquidity provision for $NATION
Reward pools for top supporters and active community members
Possibility of additional value-accretive mechanisms (including burns) to be specified transparently
No token supply, sale, or allocation details are included here intentionally: those will be published separately once finalized. At this stage, $NATION is a planned ecosystem token closely tied to real protocol usage.
8.6 Tap-to-earn mini app (play-to-earn mechanics for airdrop)
Tonation plans a Telegram-based mini app that leverages the existing TON wallet integration and Telegram’s huge user base.
Planned mechanics:
Tap-to-earn donations
Users send virtual “taps” (micro-donations) with strict limits and quest-based progression to reduce bots and farming.
NATION squads
Verified creators form squads (their communities).
Fans join their streamer’s squad and farm points collaboratively.
Competitive leaderboards
Squads compete for rankings, driving ongoing engagement.
Smart airdrop model
$NATION distribution is based on a combination of:
On-chain SBT/NFT supporter data
Mini-app activity
Real donations through Tonation grant in-app bonuses, creating a feedback loop between “real money” support and gamified engagement.
This directly matches the requested “mini app with play-to-earn mechanics for airdrop”.
8.7 Tournaments & creator NFT infrastructure
Further out on the roadmap:
Tournament mini app
Creators host community competitions directly in Telegram channels with smart contract prize pools.
Entry fees accumulate on-chain; contracts automatically distribute rewards to winners.
Tournament rewards via SBTs
Participation and victories are reflected as on-chain achievements feeding back into fan profiles.
Creator NFT launch tools
Simple infrastructure for drops, seasonal passes, and collectible rewards managed through Tonation.
These tools extend the core idea: Tonation provides the on-chain monetization stack for streamers, from tips to tournaments.
9. Business Model
Tonation is designed as a revenue-generating platform, not a one-off token.
Current and planned revenue streams include:
Donation fee
Automatically collected by the donation smart contracts.
Historically modeled around a 5% fee on donations, with the potential for promotional reductions (e.g., lower fees during campaigns) and special conditions for $NATION usage.
Mini app monetization
Boosters and multipliers in the tap-to-earn mini app, purchased with TON or Telegram Stars.
Premium creator services
Launching NFT/SBT collections
Advanced analytics and pro tools for larger creators and agencies
A share of protocol revenue is planned to flow back to $NATION via buybacks, liquidity, and reward pools, aligning token holders with ecosystem growth.
10. Team & Execution
Tonation is built by a small, senior team:
Founder / CEO & Lead Backend – Senior Go engineer with multi-chain DeFi and real-time systems experience. Architect of Tonation’s backend, smart contracts, jetton support, and alert infrastructure.
DevOps Lead – Manages Kubernetes and DigitalOcean infrastructure, monitoring, and secure node operations.
Frontend Lead – 12+ years of frontend experience, responsible for Next.js app, dashboards, and overlay widgets.
11. Conclusion
Tonation sits at the intersection of three trends:
A rapidly growing live streaming and creator economy
The rise of Web3 tools that give creators real ownership and programmable monetization
TON’s unique distribution via Telegram and its embedded wallet, which makes crypto accessible to hundreds of millions of users with minimal friction
Most existing tools treat blockchains as a payment gateway. Tonation’s goal is different: use the full power of blockchain to build long-term, verifiable relationships between streamers and fans, while keeping the user experience as simple as Web2.
This whitepaper describes only what already exists and what is concretely planned. There are no promises of “magic future features” - just:
A live, non-custodial donation platform on TON
A clear roadmap: any-token donations, SBT-based supporter passports, NFT alerts, a Telegram tap-to-earn mini app, tournaments, and the $NATION token
A business model where protocol revenue and token economics are tied directly to real usage
You can already start accepting donations with Tonation today at tonation.me. The rest of this roadmap is what we are building next, step by step, on-chain.
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