With the joining of former Nike and Apple marketing veterans, will the long-accumulated TON usher in an explosion?

Gerardo Carucci, a veteran brand marketing expert with experience at Nike and Apple, has joined the TON Foundation as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
At Apple, Carucci oversaw major events like the Steve Jobs Theater debut, and at Nike, he led global campaigns such as the 2014 FIFA World Cup marketing.
His role at TON will focus on developing integrated marketing strategies to enhance TON's brand and support its vision as a financial and creative pillar within Telegram.
The TON ecosystem saw rapid growth in 2024 through viral Telegram Mini Apps but has since cooled, with declines in daily active users and transaction volume.
Despite the slowdown, TON continues to attract significant institutional investment, including a $400 million position from firms like Kingsway Capital and Sequoia Capital, and a major investment from Pantera Capital.
In August 2025, Verb Technology completed a $558 million financing and plans to rebrand as TON Strategy Co., using TON tokens as a primary treasury asset.
Carucci's expertise in storytelling and community-driven marketing is expected to strengthen TON's brand and help capture future growth opportunities.

Author: Zen, PANews

As the DAT and cryptocurrency industries develop, more and more veterans from traditional industries are being drawn into the game. In early October, renowned brand marketing expert Gerardo Carucci announced he would join the TON Foundation as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

Carucci has extensive experience in brand operations, having gained experience in sports teams like the NBA in the 1990s. He then joined sports giant Nike, where he rose through the ranks in global sports and branding projects. He later moved to Apple, where he held senior positions in events and marketing. In the marketing-focused crypto world, his ability to integrate marketing and storytelling could bring new brand recognition to TON.

Brand marketing guru joins, former Nike and Apple executives

A review of Carucci's career shows that he has been involved in the creation of many iconic cultural events.

At Apple, Carucci's Events/Brand Experience team oversaw the September 2017 debut of Steve Jobs Theater. Held at Apple Park, this event unveiled major products like the iPhone X and set the tone with a tribute to Steve Jobs. Apple officials and various leading media outlets reported on it as the beginning of a "new campus narrative," and the visuals and pacing of subsequent launch events continued to follow this paradigm.

Prior to joining Apple, Carucci spent 17 years at Nike, including serving as Nike's Global General Manager for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. During this period, Nike partnered with Wieden+Kennedy, embracing the "Dare to Take Risk" approach, to launch three core films: "Risk Everything," "Winner Stays," and "The Last Game." These films were distributed across television, outdoor, and social media platforms, using stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, and Wayne Rooney as key voices. This multi-channel reach matrix, combining "TV-quality content with real-time digital distribution," was hailed by the industry and media as a representative example of the 2014 World Cup marketing campaign.

These experiences not only demonstrate Carucci's ability to transform large-scale events into branded stories, but also highlight his extensive experience in integrated marketing across global markets. The TON Foundation officially stated that Carucci will "develop executive-level marketing and creative strategies that integrate brand, growth, and community to accelerate TON's vision of becoming the financial and creative pillar of the Telegram platform."

Carucci's marketing philosophy emphasizes the power of creativity and community. He firmly believes that "creativity, collaboration, bold experimentation, and the power of community can shape culture and commerce." He noted that TON's inherent integration with Telegram makes it a powerful platform that integrates commerce, community, and culture, and he looks forward to sparking more creativity and collaboration within this ecosystem.

Max Crown, President and CEO of the TON Foundation, also has high hopes for Carucci. He stated that Carucci's experience in planning high-profile events and marketing campaigns for world-renowned brands, elevating brands through creative storytelling and strategic outreach, is exactly what TON needs. He believes Carucci will bring a creative and data-driven growth strategy to the TON brand, leaving a lasting mark on TON at a critical juncture for the industry.

After the end of the point-earning game, TON is still favored by institutions

The TON ecosystem experienced a surge in 2024. Leveraging the virality of Telegram Mini App games like Notcoin and Hamster Kombat, the TON network saw a surge in both on-chain data and user numbers.

However, this rapid growth was followed by a subsequent decline. After entering 2025, the number of daily active users quickly returned to only 100,000 to 170,000 active addresses per day. Transaction volume and locked-in value also declined from their peak.

After the heat subsides, the TON ecosystem faces new challenges.

Some analysts believe this situation represents a natural cooling-off period following explosive growth. Furthermore, external uncertainties have placed additional pressure on TON: Telegram founder Durov's legal battles in France, along with restructuring within the TON Foundation, have raised questions about TON's long-term trajectory. Furthermore, the gradual withdrawal of initial incentives and the loss of some participants have led to a decline in the total value locked (TVL) and on-chain activity on the TON network.

However, despite the decline in popularity, the TON ecosystem has not stagnated. Various parties are quietly making moves, indicating that the market remains confident in TON's future.

In March 2025, the TON Foundation revealed that several well-known venture capital firms had held approximately US$400 million in TON positions, including Kingsway Capital, Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, etc.

Furthermore, digital asset investment firm Pantera Capital announced its largest investment in TON to date (the exact amount was not disclosed), demonstrating its long-term optimism about the TON ecosystem's potential. This series of investments has injected significant financial and strategic support into the TON ecosystem.

What is more noteworthy is that the listed company Verb Technology completed a US$558 million PIPE (private placement) financing in August 2025 and announced that it will soon be renamed TON Strategy Co.

The company uses TON tokens as its primary treasury reserve asset and plans to use the majority of the proceeds to purchase and stake TON tokens for ongoing returns. The financing, led by Kingsway Capital, attracted participation from over 110 institutional investors, including Pantera, MEXC Ventures, and Animoca Brands, making it one of the most significant cryptocurrency PIPE transactions to date in 2025.

In summary, while the TON ecosystem's short-term hype has cooled, its underlying development continues unabated. With continued capital inflows from multiple sources and the platform's evolving functionality, TON continues to quietly build momentum. Gerardo Carucci's arrival strengthens TON's brand and marketing team. His extensive branding experience and innovative marketing strategies will help TON seize the next wave of growth opportunities. It's foreseeable that this "brand veteran" will play a pivotal role in the TON ecosystem's next phase of growth.