Key Takeaways:
- Nikola Plecas, former Visa executive, joins TON Foundation as VP of Payments to lead global payments strategy and infrastructure.
- TON aims to scale for Telegram’s 1B+ users, enhance regulatory compliance, and grow financial partnerships.
- The foundation is expanding its ecosystem with integrations like Ethena’s stablecoins and broader blockchain connectivity.
The Open Network Foundation (TON Foundation) has appointed Nikola Plecas, a former Visa executive, as its new Vice President of Payments to lead its global payments strategy.
Plecas brings a wealth of experience in crypto and fintech, having played a key role in Visa’s digital currency strategy, product development, and global crypto initiatives.
🚨Big move in Web3 payments: TON Blockchain just named @nikola_plecas as VP of Payments!
— TON 💎 (@ton_blockchain) May 28, 2025
He’s not just any hire. Nikola helped shape Visa’s global crypto strategy. Now he’s bringing that expertise to TON to scale payments for Telegram’s 1B+ users.
He’ll focus on:
⚙️… pic.twitter.com/Wsgknwmt9U
At TON, he will focus on building scalable payment infrastructure, managing financial partnerships, and ensuring regulatory compliance across jurisdictions as the network expands to serve Telegram’s massive user base of over 1 billion people.
TON Foundation CEO Max Crown highlighted Plecas’s deep expertise as crucial to accelerating the platform’s global growth.
This leadership move aligns with TON’s broader expansion efforts.
In May, stablecoin platform Ethena launched USDe and its staked variant sUSDe (integrated as tsUSDe) within the TON ecosystem to offer yield-bearing dollar savings.
TON is also deepening its collaboration with Tether and targeting integration with at least 100 blockchains, including Ethereum, Tron, and Solana, as part of its long-term scaling strategy to build a robust, interconnected payment and asset network.
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Efe Bravo, a seasoned journalist, delivers compelling insights into the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.
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