TON Foundation names MoonPay co-founder Maximilian Crown as CEO amid growth plateau

The Open Network Foundation has named MoonPay co-founder Maximilian Crown as its new chief executive officer, the organization announced Thursday.

Crown's appointment comes as the TON ecosystem has also been experiencing slowed growth in terms of daily fees and transactions, according to TonStat data . Activity on the TON blockchain spiked last year as Telegram-based mini apps and games like "Notcoin" and "Hamster Kombat" momentarily caught fire. 

The leadership shake-up follows the foundation’s earlier appointment of Manuel Stotz as president earlier this year.

"Crown brings a wealth of experience as a seasoned entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of MoonPay, a global leader in crypto payments. As CFO and COO, he played a key role in shaping MoonPay’s finance and operations functions, helping scale the company into one of the largest crypto payments platforms worldwide," TON said in its statement. "He also built strong relationships with banks, payments companies, and regulatory bodies, positioning MoonPay as a trusted fintech leader."

TON blockchain's active user numbers have surpassed 40 million in the past year. The ecosystem also has  121 million "unique" holders of Toncoin, the foundation said.

In February, TON's former president, Steve Yun, launched a $100 million fund called TVM Ventures, which is focused on TON-based startups.

At the time, Yun said he expects TON to capture a major share of the stablecoin market within the next few years.

Last month, The Open Network Foundation, or TON Foundation, said a group of VCs, including Sequoia Capital, Ribbit, Benchmark and Kingsway, invested over $400 million in  the Toncoin cryptocurrency.