KTON vs TON Whales: TON Staking Compared

Both let you earn TON staking rewards, but they are built differently. KTON is a dedicated liquid staking protocol. TON Whales is a long-running, multi-product validator operation that offers both classic nominator pools and its own liquid staking token. Here is a fair, side-by-side look.

Updated June 2026 · By KTON

The short answer

If you want a focused, publicly-audited liquid staking protocol where you stake Gram, receive a transferable KTON token, and can start from 1 Gram using almost any TON wallet, KTON is built for exactly that. KTON takes a 16% governance fee on staking rewards (the APY shown is already net of it), and unlike a nominator pool you never manage per-cycle rounds yourself. If you want a well-established TON operation with its own wallet and explorer, and you are choosing between classic nominator pools or its wsTON liquid staking pool, TON Whales is a long-standing option.

This page is published by KTON, so treat it as one perspective. We have kept the comparison factual and qualitative. Competitor details here reflect what TON Whales states publicly. Please verify the latest numbers, fees, and terms on each project's own site before staking.

What each one is

KTON: dedicated liquid staking

KTON is an institutional-grade liquid staking protocol on TON, built on a TON staking lineage dating to 2022. The team has run public TON staking pools since 2022 (starting with TonStake), and the KTON V2 protocol launched in 2025. You stake Gram (the native asset formerly called Toncoin; the network is still TON) and receive the liquid KTON token, a liquid staking token (LST) that represents your staked Gram and accrues rewards through auto-compounding. KTON is genuinely liquid in the way that matters: you receive the token the moment you stake, it stays transferable, and it keeps earning the whole time you hold it. You are not locked into managing per-cycle rounds yourself the way a nominator-pool depositor is. Under the hood, the protocol lends pooled Gram to validators for each round; the docs explain the loan and validator model in detail. When you want Gram back, the recommended path is to unstake through the protocol, which returns your Gram after the validation cycle completes.

TON Whales: pools, a liquid token, and a wallet

TON Whales (tonwhales.com) is a long-running TON operation that has run validators on TON for years, with several products around validation: decentralized nominator staking pools, a liquid staking pool whose token is called wsTON, the Tonhub mobile wallet, a blockchain explorer, and the Whales Club. In a nominator pool, users pool deposits, a validator runs on the combined stake, rewards are shared among nominators, and deposits are committed to validation for the cycle. In its liquid staking pool, you deposit Gram and receive wsTON, a token whose value accrues over time and which TON Whales says you can sell on a DEX. Its nominator pool contracts are open-source on GitHub.

Liquidity

Both projects can give you a liquid position, so the question is the shape of it.

• KTON: you receive the liquid KTON token at stake time, and it stays transferable and earning the whole time you hold it. To turn it back into Gram, the recommended path is to unstake through the protocol: you return KTON, the protocol issues an NFT receipt that is burnt automatically, and your Gram is released once the current validation round finalizes, so the wait can be up to about 36 hours (one full round). KTON deliberately keeps essentially all deposited Gram working with validators rather than reserving an idle buffer for instant withdrawals. That is a conscious design choice: full deployment means more of your Gram is actually earning instead of sitting idle as a withdrawal reserve, which is how KTON pursues the highest staking yield and best capital efficiency. The trade-off is that unstaking is not instant; you wait out the cycle. A KTON/Gram pair also exists on STON.fi, a TON DEX, as an emergency option if you genuinely cannot wait for the unstake cycle, but its on-chain liquidity is thin, so it suits only small amounts and is not the recommended way to exit. That single STON.fi pair is also KTON's only DeFi venue; KTON is not used for lending, farming, or as collateral elsewhere.
• TON Whales: a nominator pool deposit is committed to validation and cannot be withdrawn during an active cycle, with no liquid token in the meantime. Its wsTON pool does issue a transferable token; TON Whales states that wsTON holders can sell on a DEX and that wsTON can be sent to lending protocols. Liquidity for any traded token depends on the depth of its market, so check current venues and volume yourself.

Fees

• KTON: the protocol takes a 16% governance fee on staking rewards (a commission on the yield, routed to the protocol Treasury, not a charge on your principal); the APY shown is already net of it. There is no separate deposit or withdrawal fee charged from your wallet beyond the usual TON network gas. When you stake, your wallet attaches about 1.15 Gram of gas to the transaction, and any unused portion is refunded, so you want roughly 2.15 Gram in your wallet to stake the 1 Gram minimum.
• TON Whales: states that it charges a commission (a percentage of nominators' income) to cover validator servers and operations. Third-party coverage (the re:doubt liquid staking review) has described the wsTON pool's commission as around 10% of staking profit on top of the validator fee, but rates can vary by pool and over time. Check the current rate on the TON Whales staking page rather than relying on this figure.

Minimums, wallets, and getting started

• KTON: minimum stake is 1 Gram. KTON supports most TON wallets: any wallet that supports TON Connect can connect and stake, including Tonkeeper, MyTonWallet, Wallet in Telegram, and OKX Wallet, among others. Connect at app.kton.io (or use the Telegram Mini App), stake Gram, and receive KTON.
• TON Whales: its nominator pools have historically required a higher minimum, while its wsTON liquid pool has advertised a much lower minimum deposit. Staking is offered through the TON Whales website and inside its own Tonhub wallet. Confirm the current minimums and supported wallets on their site.

Withdrawals

• KTON: KTON stays transferable and earning while you hold it, and the recommended way to convert back to Gram is to unstake through the protocol. You return KTON, the protocol issues an NFT receipt that is minted and then burnt automatically, and your Gram is released once the current validation round finalizes, so the wait can be up to about 36 hours (one full round); it can be faster if you unstake near the end of a round. Because KTON stakes essentially all deposited Gram with validators rather than holding back an idle buffer, unstaking is not instant: KTON does not offer instant-unstake, and you wait out the cycle. That full deployment is deliberate; it keeps the maximum amount of Gram earning. If you genuinely cannot wait for the cycle, a KTON/Gram pair exists on STON.fi, a TON DEX, as an emergency option, but its on-chain liquidity is thin, so it suits only small amounts and is not the recommended way to exit.
• TON Whales: for nominator pools, you request a withdrawal and receive funds after the validation round your stake is in completes, which its materials describe as a wait tied to the cycle (often well over a day). For wsTON, you can redeem through the pool or, per TON Whales, sell the token on a DEX.

Security and transparency

Both projects publish open-source code, but their audit posture differs, which matters because liquid staking adds smart-contract risk on top of normal staking risk.

• KTON: contracts are open-source (github.com/KTON-IO) and audited by TonBit. KTON is the first publicly-audited TonCore LST V2, and you can read the full audit report. Validators are monitored 24/7 and rewards auto-compound. The protocol docs cover security and audits in full.
• TON Whales: its nominator pool contracts are open-source on GitHub, and it has operated validators on TON for years with monitoring tooling. In the re:doubt liquid staking review, TON Whales was noted for running a bug-bounty program rather than a listed third-party audit for its liquid pool. Review its own documentation and repositories for the current audit and security status of each product.

For a deeper look at the trade-offs, see Is liquid staking safe?

At a glance

Which should you choose?

• Choose KTON if you want a focused liquid staking protocol with a publicly-audited TonCore LST V2, a 1 Gram entry point, auto-compounding without managing rounds, broad TON Connect wallet support, and a token that stays liquid while it earns. KTON takes a 16% governance fee on staking rewards (the APY shown is already net of it) and charges no separate deposit or withdrawal fee beyond network gas. It stakes essentially all deposited Gram with validators rather than holding an idle withdrawal buffer, so more of your Gram is earning and the protocol pursues the highest yield; the trade-off is that unstaking is not instant (Gram is released once the round finalizes, up to about 36 hours for one full round), with a thin STON.fi pair only as an emergency hatch. If maximum capital efficiency matters and you can wait out the cycle, that full-stake model fits.
• Choose TON Whales if you specifically want its established multi-product setup with its own Tonhub wallet, and you are happy to pick between classic nominator pools or its wsTON liquid pool after checking its current fees, minimums, and audit status.

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