In the 44th episode of Colors of Web3 & Entrepreneurship, Aru Sasaki, founder of TON Japan, joins us to discuss the growing TON ecosystem and how TON Japan is playing a crucial role in bringing Web3 to the Japanese market.
In this episode, we learn about Aru’s journey into Web3, his experience working with a crypto family office in New York, and his passion for social business. We also explore the unique challenges and opportunities of building a Web3 community in Japan, where platforms like LINE and Instagram dominate the social media landscape. Aru explains how TON Japan is supporting both Japanese and global projects, acting as a bridge between the two markets, and fostering collaboration within the TON ecosystem. We also discuss the future of TON and its potential to become the biggest gateway into Web3 through its integration with Telegram and user-friendly features.
⌛ Timestamps:
00:00:00 Episode trailer
00:00:32 Introduction to the show and guest - Aru Sasaki, founder of TON Japan
00:02:45 Aru’s journey into Web3, experience working in finance in New York, and move back to Japan
00:05:07 Founding his company, Hyphen, and its Web3 communication protocol, DMTP
00:09:07 How Aru discovered TON
00:10:11 Aru’s hobbies outside of Web3
00:13:25 Deep dive into TON Japan
00:16:12 Discussion about the social media landscape in Japan and the use of LINE and Instagram
00:18:38 Overview of Telegram and TON’s user base and growth
00:21:08 About TON Japan and partnership with Japanese companies
00:24:00 Why global companies are interested in TON Japan
00:27:40 Popular apps on TON, including Hamster Kombat and Catizen
00:33:53 Concerns and questions users and companies have about TON
00:36:04 The team behind TON Japan and future plan for hiring
00:36:54 Funding and support from the TON Foundation and TON Society
00:37:44 The size and growth of the global TON community
00:40:48 Discussion about TON’s programming languages: FunC and Tact
00:43:03 The global distribution of the TON Foundation team
00:43:40 Future outlook for mini apps developed by the local community in Japan
00:44:38 Aru's vision for the future of TON and Web3 in general
00:51:06 Aru's take on how to onboard 1 billion users into Web3
00:53:27 His advice for building a Web3 community
00:55:24 Where to follow Aru and TON Japan online
00:56:46 Episode outro and next episode preview
Follow Aru and his community:
Aru's Twitter/X: https://x.com/Aru_Web3
TON Japan's Twitter/X: https://x.com/TON_jp_org
TON Japan's Telegram group: https://t.me/ton_jp_org
TON Japan website: https://ton-japan.org/
My social media:
Twitter/X: https://www.twitter.com/LamWeb3
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lamweb3/
Website: https://lamtrinh.xyz
My latest article: https://lamweb3.substack.com/p/the-importance-of-decentralized-science
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