Alyona Shmalko
Alyona Shmalko is the Lead Ecosystem Developer at TON Foundation, actively contributing to the growth and support of blockchain projects. She has been passionate about cryptocurrencies since 2021 and has contributed significantly to the development of Web3.
Education and Career path
Alyona graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations with honors. She later pursued her studies at LUISS University in Italy, where she earned a Master's degree in the same field. She is fluent in Italian and English.
Alyona brings years of experience in blockchain, startups and project management.
- Qowner (September 2022 – November 2023) As a Project Management Officer, she contribued to the development of the tokenized real estate investment platform. She led the development and launch of the MVP, while establishing workflows for buying and tokenizing real estate.
- SHP.agency (April 2022 – December 2023) Worked as a Lead Event Organizer. She led three major events in Cyprus (Linq, Top Creators, Crypto MeetUp), each attracting over 400 attendees. Alyona secured speakers and sponsors from such companies as Google, Meta, TechCrunch, TikTok, Wolt, Nexters.
- XFounders (January 2023 – December 2023) Alyona was the Co-Founder and COO of the XFounders Web3 accelerator. This platform supported startups in the Web3 industry to launch their projects by offering online education and offline bootcamps.
- TON Foundation (December 2023 – March 2024) During this period, Alyona held the position of Ecosystem Manager with similar responsibilities for Ecosystem development.
- TON Foundation (February 2024 – Present) As an Ecosystem Lead she supports projects developing on TON, a fully decentralized Tier 1 blockchain created by Telegram. Her primary role is to assist startups and teams in leveraging the potential of the ecosystem.
Alyona's efforts are aimed at attracting new users and developers, as well as strengthening partnerships with platforms like Telegram.
Life and Hobbies
Alyona has lived in Italy and currently resides in Dubai. She actively maintains her Telegram channel and X (Twitter) page, sharing insider information about blockchain, technology and her personal experiences.
Outside of her professional life, Alyona enjoys sports and cooking, which help her maintain a work-life balance.
Influence and Achievements
Under Alyona's leadership, TON Ecosystem has seen significant growth.
In June 2024, TON network surpassed Ethereum in terms of daily active wallets. Alyona is also actively involved in initiatives to attract new users to Web3, aiming to help TON achieve 500M users by 2028.
Her contribution to Web3 development, including TON Ecosystem and the advancement of blockchain technologies makes Alyona Shmalko a significant figure in today's crypto space.