The TON ecosystem’s MEME project, DOGS, has recently become the market’s darling, with several major exchanges like Binance, OKX, Bitget, Bybit, and Gate.io rushing to announce the upcoming listing of DOGS tokens.
OKX and Bitget have even started pre-listing trades for DOGS ahead of time, a rarity for a MEME project that was created just over a month ago. Many believe that DOGS is set to replicate Notcoin’s success, bringing a significant number of new users to major exchanges, which has led to a scramble among centralized exchanges (CEX) to list the token.
No Click Games: Telegram Users Get Airdrops Directly
DOGS has emerged as a dark horse in the TON ecosystem since July. Unlike Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and other “click games,” DOGS doesn’t require users to participate in games to earn points for airdrop allocation. Instead, it uses an algorithm to determine point totals based on Telegram usage duration and activity.
This free airdrop method quickly captured the community’s attention, attracting over 10 million users to the community channel within just 10 days of launch. As of August 22, the channel’s user count exceeded 16 million, ranking it as the fourth-largest Telegram channel globally.
In addition to its unique airdrop calculation method, DOGS is also one of the fastest projects to distribute airdrops among recent Telegram ecosystem mini-games. According to official announcements, the DOGS airdrop claim period has been extended until August 23, with the Token Generation Event (TGE) and listing set for August 26 at 12 PM UTC.
In contrast, Hamster Kombat and other previously popular mini-games have yet to announce their TGE dates months after attracting user interactions. Hamster Kombat even faced internal disputes, as reported by Russian media, although the revealing articles were later removed.
According to the official announcement, the total supply of DOGS tokens is capped at 550 billion, with 81.5% allocated to the community (with no lock-up period), 10% for the team and future development (with a 12-month lock-up period), and 8.5% for CEX and DEX liquidity and listing-related activities.
Market Cap Could Surpass Notcoin
With the token plan revealed, major exchanges like OKX and Bitget have launched pre-listing trades for DOGS. As of August 22, the pre-listing price on OKX was around $0.0032. At this price, DOGS could have a market cap of $1.76 billion.
If this value holds until the token launch, it would surpass NOT’s initial market cap of around $700 million, placing DOGS directly in the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market cap. According to official data, over 43 million users are eligible for the airdrop, with the top-ranking user entitled to receive 23,787,023 tokens, potentially worth more than $76,000.
However, this price is not ideal for some DOGS holders. Aside from airdrop claims, users can also purchase DOGS with Telegram’s in-app points, Stars, at an exchange rate of 1 Star = 1 DOGS.
The price of 1 Star is approximately $0.01932. Based on this rate, investors who bought DOGS directly with Stars have already incurred an 83% loss. Nonetheless, the official team seems to offer some compensation to these early adopters. Of the 81.5% allocated for airdrops, 73% is reserved for regular airdrops, while the remaining portion will be used to reward traders, sticker creators, and future community members.
The official sale of tokens has also raised some concerns within the community. In response, the team stated that all proceeds from selling DOGS in exchange for Stars would be donated to charity, with specific charities to be chosen through community voting.
Exchanges Go All Out to Attract Users
This year, TON ecosystem mini-games have demonstrated the potential behind Telegram’s 900 million users. Following the market buzz generated by Notcoin’s successful listing on Binance in May, click games like Hamster Kombat and tapsswap have attracted a massive user base. DOGS’ popularity has also sparked a listing frenzy among exchanges, likely due to the prospect of gaining new users from Telegram.
Colin Wu revealed that “Notcoin’s listing brought tens of thousands of new users to tier-one and tier-two exchanges, mainly from Russian-speaking CIS countries.” In a market currently lacking hot topics, such a significant influx of new users has become something exchanges cannot ignore.
However, despite the surge in user numbers for click games like Hamster Kombat and tapsswap, with Hamster Kombat claiming to have surpassed 300 million users, the airdrop plans remain uncertain. This is largely because the initial designs did not limit bot participation, making it difficult to determine how many real users there are. The project team has repeatedly delayed the airdrop, citing technical issues that require more time to resolve.
Moreover, the market remains skeptical about whether these purely click-generated users have real purchasing power and can bring substantial funds to the crypto market. This skepticism has been confirmed by exchange executives.
Binance Co-Founder and Binance Labs Head He Yi mentioned in a recent AMA, “We recently partnered with some Web3 projects for cross-game collaboration, attracting 1.3 million users, but only 56 became trading users, as most were only there for the freebies.”
In contrast, DOGS’ airdrop method, which calculates allocation based on Telegram user activity, is seen by the community as potentially bringing in more valuable user groups. GoPlus founder Mike commented on X (formerly Twitter), “DOGS’ airdrop corresponds to users’ depth of TG usage. Users don’t need to click; they just need to check their TG usage to receive the airdrop.
This simple and direct method means DOGS holders are more likely to be real TG users. If these users go to Binance to sell tokens, Binance can assess whether TG is an effective channel for new user acquisition and decide on future support for the TG or TON ecosystem.”
Perhaps due to these factors, exchanges have high expectations for DOGS. Beyond simple listing, most have launched special campaigns to attract users. Binance has introduced an activity where users can earn DOGS tokens by staking BNB and FDUSD. OKX started offering DOGS pre-listing futures on August 5, and Bitget has launched a campaign with 13,600 TON tokens available for participants.
Bybit has introduced an offer where new users can receive 150,000 DOGS for making a deposit. In the face of such competition, Bitget’s Gracy commented in a community group, “DOGS’ traffic is huge,” adding, “It seems Binance can’t sit still.”
Currently, 20 million users have connected their wallets, and 43 million users are eligible for the airdrop. As of August 22, DOGS’ official community announced that over 8 million verified users have requested to deposit their $DOGS directly into exchanges and Telegram wallets.
Previously, Notcoin had reported 11.5 million token holders. DOGS seems poised to break this record, making it understandable why exchanges are so eager to capitalize on this growth opportunity.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
