TVM Challenge 2023
TVM Challenge 2023, organized by TON Foundation, was a competition aimed at exploring new possibilities and implementing updated features of TON Virtual Machine (TVM).
The prize pool for the challenge was 30,000 $TON, and participants showcased innovative ideas and technical solutions.
Objectives and Goals of the Event
TVM upgrade marked a significant step toward making TON's virtual machine a flexible and efficient platform for developing smart contracts, services, and products. Developers explored TVM's new features, including support for cryptographic operations and interoperability with other blockchains.
The primary goal of TVM Challenge was to encourage developers to create innovative smart contracts leveraging TVM's new functionalities. The event aimed to:
- Explore new operation codes and their applications;
- Enhance the efficiency and security of TON Ecosystem;
- Engage developers in building products that redefine approaches to decentralized technologies.
TVM Updates
To advance the platform, developers introduced new cryptographic methods to TVM:
Hash Functions:
- SHA256, SHA512 (OpenSSL),
- BLAKE2B (OpenSSL),
- KECCAK256 and KECCAK512 (Ethereum-compatible).
Cryptographic Curves:
- secp256k1 (Bitcoin/Ethereum),
- secp256r1 (for hardware wallets),
- BLS12-381 and Ristretto (for ZKP protocols).
New Instructions and Features:
- Support for arbitrary precision arithmetic;
- Improvements in message dispatch and stack operations;
- The ability to securely run TVM within TVM using RUNVM.
Organization and Format
TVM Challenge 2023 ran from June 2 to June 25, 2023, giving participants time to explore TVM's new features and create innovative solutions.
To participate, applicants needed to submit:
- Project name,
- A brief description (up to three sentences),
- A link to the project’s GitHub repository or website,
- TON address.
Judging and Jury
Projects were evaluated by a panel of TON Ecosystem experts, including:
- Andrey Tvorozhkov — Disintar / dton
- Steve Korshakov — Independent TON evangelist, Tact Lead
- Tim — TON Diamonds
- Dan Volkov — TON Whales
- Nikita Kuznetsov — OpenMask
- Shahar — Orbs
- Amin Rezaei — Skyring Foundation / Rift framework
- Andrey Pfau — TON Foundation
- Nick Nekilov — DeDust
- Vladimir Lebedev — Independent TON Researcher
- Dario — STON.fi
- Dr. Awesome Doge — TonX Studio
Prize Pool and Evaluation Criteria
The 30,000 $TON prize pool was distributed among participants who presented the best projects. Evaluation criteria included:
- Relevance — How well the project met the needs of new opcodes;
- Efficiency — Optimization of gas usage;
- Originality — The project’s uniqueness and innovation;
- Technical Complexity — The level of implementation difficulty, with a 1.5x score multiplier.
Each project could score up to 40.5 points from the jury.
Competition Results
Many projects participated, and the winners were announced as follows:
| Rank | Project Name | Score | Prize ($TON) |
| 1 | snarkjs-func | 34.5 | 5,691 |
| 2 | Snarkjs TVM Integration | 28.5 | 5,053 |
| 3 | Wallet v5 | 28 | 4,268 |
| Clean.ton | 28 | 4,268 | |
| 4 | Tonnel Network | 27 | 3,359 |
| 5 | Circom Integration | 24.5 | 2,391 |
| FrosTON | 24.5 | 2,391 | |
| 6 | Merkle Proof for Bridging | 17.5 | 1,476 |
| 7 | zero-gas-vote-ton | 12.5 | 744 |
| 8 | TBDt & TDA Concept | 12 | 281 |
| 9 | evm-over-ton-vote | 4.5 | 71 |
The jury was particularly impressed by projects utilizing zk-SNARKs, PLONK integration, and optimizations for wallet operations and decentralized networks.
After six months of testing and audits, TVM update was successfully implemented into the Mainnet on November 30, 2023. This update significantly enhanced the functionality, security, and versatility of TON Ecosystem, making it even more appealing to developers.
Significance and Outcomes
TVM Challenge 2023 marked a critical milestone in the development of TON Ecosystem. It strengthened the developer community and encouraged new approaches to creating smart contracts. Participants and winners contributed to advancing decentralized applications, showcasing the potential of the updated TVM features to drive innovative solutions.