The Telegram Open Network (TON) has ground to a halt, with no new blocks produced for more than three hours, sparking concerns across the crypto community. The outage has been attributed to an overwhelming surge in activity following the launch of a new memecoin, DOGS.

Tonk Inu, a prominent TON-based community platform, reported the outage, linking it to the hype surrounding DOGS. The memecoin, which launched on August 27, saw an astonishing $1.7 billion in trading volume within its first ten hours and quickly gained listings on major exchanges like Binance and OKX. However, this excitement has seemingly overwhelmed the network, causing a complete standstill.

The last block recorded on the TON network was block 45341899, with no new transactions validated since then. Users and developers alike are now left waiting for a resolution as the network struggles to recover.

DOGS, despite its explosive start, has seen its price decline from a peak of $0.0018 to around $0.0013. The memecoin's arrival comes on the heels of TON's recent rebranding, which was intended to honor Telegram's creator, Pavel Durov. Durov, who was recently detained by French authorities, has been at the center of a global debate on digital freedom and resistance.

In response to his arrest, the TON Society introduced the “Resistance Dog” symbol, a nod to Durov's long-standing commitment to free speech. They also launched a campaign on Telegram, gathering nearly 1.5 million signatures to demand Durov's release.

As the TON network remains offline, the implications of this outage are still unfolding, leaving users to question the stability of the platform during periods of high activity.