TON Bridge closed: Wrapped TON and j-Tokens must be returned before September 1, 2026

If you hold Wrapped TON on the Ethereum or BNB smart chain, please transfer these tokens back to the TON network through the official bridge before September 1, 2026. The bridge will then be closed, and any balances that still exist in encapsulated form will no longer be able to be unencapsulated through this path. The mirroring situation applies to the so-called j tokens on TON, namely jUSDT, jUSDC, jDAI and jWBTC: these holdings must be transferred back to Ethereum before then.

This date has been determined since May 23, 2026. So this is not an emergency, but a long-announced deadline that is now in its final stages. This is the danger: announced deadlines will fade out of view because they seem remote at first glance.

TON Bridge v3: What will be closed on September 1, 2026?

The cross-chain bridge with the address bridge-v3. ton. org. The bridge connects Toncoin with Ethereum and BNB smart chains. A cross-chain bridge is a pair of contracts on two blockchains that lock the balance on one side and issue the same amount of proxy tokens on the other side.

The proxy token here is called Wrapped TON. On Ethereum and BNB smart chains, it is called Wrapped TON Coin and the code is TONCOIN. Its value depends entirely on whether the bridge continues to release the native tokens stored behind it. Once this promise expires, all that remains is a token that cannot be returned.

Closing does not affect the TON network itself, nor does it affect your native Toncoin in your TON wallet. What is affected is only the encapsulated holdings on the other two chains and the corresponding j tokens created on TON.

Why is the bridge closed

According to professional service Cryptopolitan, the bridge processed 31,893 transfers during its lifetime, totaling more than 101 million TON, without any successful attacks. Operators pointed out that there are updated transfer paths that do not require their own encapsulators, but run through messaging protocols such as LayerZero, Stargate, Symbiosis and Rhino.fi. From an operator's perspective, a bridge that is almost no longer in use but still needs to fund contract and oracle operations is a cost item with residual risk.

Wrapped TON, jUSDT, and jUSDC: Which tokens will be affected by bridge closures

There are two directions, and many holders know only one. The first direction is the more widely known situation. You have sent native Toncoin via a bridge to Ethereum or BNB smart chain for use in a trading platform or liquidity pool. Since then, you have kept Wrapped TON in your wallet. These holdings must be transferred back to the TON network. The second direction involves j tokens. They are mirror images: stablecoins and other Ethereum tokens brought to TON by the same bridge exist in the form of jUSDT, jUSDC, jDAI, or jWBTC. The letter j means it comes from the bridge. People holding such balances need to transfer them back to Ethereum rather than the TON network.

Anyone who has used both directions (such as trading Toncoin on Ethereum while holding stablecoins on TON) will face two tasks. In practice this is often ignored because the second position is located in a different wallet application than the first.

How to identify j tokens

In TON wallets, names are usually written out clearly, such as "jUSDT" or "Bridged USDT." The decisive factor is the contract address: the j token comes from the bridge contract, while the native stablecoin on TON comes from the issuer itself. If you are not sure which one you hold, check the issuer address of the token in the TON browser to further confirm it.

A bridge that is no longer working: After September 1, this route can no longer be used back to the TON network.

With 11 days left before the deadline, how many Wrapped Tons are there on the Ethereum and BNB smart chains?

Regarding this issue, there was no public current data at the time, so we collected it ourselves. Method: On August 21, 2026, at approximately 01:00 UTC, we called the totalSupply function of two Wrapped TON Coin contracts through the public RPC endpoint, and additionally verified the name, code, and scale of each contract on the chain. The two contracts each made four calls; the value of Ethereum was queried by two independent RPC providers, and the results were the same twice. Result: There are 9,410,992.06 Wrapped Tons in circulation on Ethereum and 2,065,163.78 on the BNB smart chain. A total of 11,476,155.84 tokens remained in encapsulated form 11 days before the closure date. Both contracts are accurate to 9 decimal places, and we also made queries rather than assumptions. Calculated at the same value: Based on the Toncoin price obtained through the CoinGecko public price interface of 1.19 euros that day, the outstanding balance is approximately 13.7 million euros. This analysis was completed by the author of this article on August 21, 2026.

The parts we can't check also illustrate here: we don't know how many of these tokens are German holders, nor do we know how many of the addresses behind them are still actively used. Some of the balance may exist in contracts on trading platforms and liquidity pools rather than in private hands. The j token side on TON cannot be counted in the same way, because TON does not provide an EVM-compatible interface with the same functions. So this figure is the upper limit on which retail investors still need to relocate, rather than an estimate of private shares. For reference, Cryptopolitan gave data that during the peak bridging period, there were 35,694 Wrapped TON holders on Ethereum and 113,495 on the BNB smart chain. In contrast, the outstanding balance is small. But it is only small overall and not small for the individual holder to which it belongs.

Return Wrapped TON: Gradually return redemption through bridging

The operating steps are the same as before, except in the opposite direction. Open the bridge on bridge-v3.ton.org, connect the wallet where the encapsulated tokens are actually stored, select the Ethereum or BNB smart chain as the source chain, and TON as the target chain, enter the TON address where the balance should reach, and then confirm the transfer. There are three points to decide whether it will go smoothly: first, the target address. What you need is a TON network address that you can access yourself. A recharge address for a trading platform is possible, but only if the platform explicitly supports recharge from bridges. If in doubt, your own TON wallet is a safer recipient because you do not rely on third-party billing operations. Second, network costs. Although handling fees are waived, Gas on the source chain is still required for return redemption. On Ethereum, this can be quite significant depending on the load, and you need ETH in the same wallet to pay. People who only have tokens but no online currency cannot exit and only realize it at the last minute. Third, authorization. Before transferring money, the contract requires token authorization, allowing the bridge to move your tokens. Carefully check which contract you are authorizing and how much amount, and do not confirm unlimited authorization when the fixed amount is sufficient.

Operate in batches rather than transfer all at once

If you hold a large position, it is safer to transfer a small test amount first. If it reaches the TON side, turn to the rest. This will cost Gas one more time, but if something goes wrong, it will avoid positions you can no longer reach.

jUSDT and jUSDC back to Ethereum: reverse path through the same bridge

For j tokens, the same interface is used, except that the fields are interchanged. The source chain is TON, the target chain is Ethereum, and the target address is the Ethereum address that you can access. One detail distinguishes this path from the first: it is the actual stablecoin that reaches the Ethereum side, not another agent. So jUSDT has once again become the USDT on Ethereum. You then hold ordinary positions on a continuing chain and are no longer under deadline pressure. Similarly, you don't need a balance on the target side, but you need enough TON on the source side to pay for network fees. Anyone who completely empties TON in order to leave a balance will no longer be able to move their j tokens. Therefore, please keep a small balance until all positions have been transferred.

Pre-deadline fee relief: What does it mean to cancel the percentage bridge fee

The operator has suspended the percentage transfer fee for bridging for the remaining time. Here's one thing about the deadline that works in your favor: During this period, you only need to pay the network fees for the respective chain. In practice, this means two things. On the one hand, even small residual positions, which were barely worth withdrawing when charged on a percentage basis, have now become worth it. On the other hand, the reasons that prompted many holders to wait disappeared. Anyone who delays returning to redemption due to cost now has the cheapest moment in the history of this bridge. Notes on the chain: On the BNB smart chain, network costs are usually much lower than Ethereum. Anyone with positions on both chains and a limited Gas budget should reasonably start with the more expensive chain while still having time to choose the timing calmly.

There are eleven days left between this analysis and the closing date.

Exchange account, software wallet or DeFi pool: Where is your Wrapped TON actually?

You must know where your position is before moving anything. There are three typical situations that require different steps. If the token is in your own wallet, you can process it yourself and follow the steps above. Which wallet programs support which chains are listed in the Software Wallet Comparison. If the token is in an exchange account, it is up to the trading platform to decide. Some platforms will perform redemption for customers themselves, some will announce withdrawal deadlines, and some will not notify them at all. Don't rely on general announcements; look for announcements that are relevant to your specific service provider. Anyone who wants to transfer positions can find platforms that support TON network recharge and withdrawal paths in exchange comparisons. If the token is in a liquidity pool or in a lending agreement as collateral, the path will be longer. First you need to release the position or repay the loan, and then you need to make a return redemption. This situation requires the most lead time and is usually the latest to be noticed.

Quiet fourth scenario

There are also positions that do not fall into any of the above categories: tokens in old wallets whose access details may be somewhere, but have not been needed for years. If you have used this bridge at any time since 2021, it's worth checking the address you used at the time. It only takes a quarter of an hour, and it will be in vain after September 1.

Tax issues with bridge return conversions: Why time and amount should be recorded

In Germany, whether the retrieval of encapsulated tokens is a tax-related event depends on whether the encapsulators are considered the same asset or a different asset. This issue has not yet been finally resolved, and the treatment method is different in practice. We described the starting situation in our article on encapsulation and pledge positions. No matter what the dispute is, you can record it. Record how much money you brought back via the bridge on which day, which address sent it, which address received it, and how much the transaction cost. Anyone who wants to prove the date when his Toncoin was obtained will need this unbroken chain in the future. If you set it up now (rather than next spring), the Portfolio Tracker can save you trouble; which programs can clearly allocate bridging transactions are shown in the Tax and Portfolio Tool Comparison. Need to be clarified: This is not tax advice and a professional should be consulted for specific circumstances. Recording takes two minutes on the day you return for redemption and cannot be replenished later.

Old Bridge v. Bridge v3: Why was it closed twice and which one counts now

Confusion often occurs here, so use simple language to distinguish it. TON World has closed once before: the older Toncoin Bridge, the network's early days, will be retired in 2025. The person who acted and regained the position was not the target of the current deadline. September 1, 2026 is involved in its successor, Bridge-v3.ton.org. Since the first shutdown, encapsulation and unblocking have been done through this address. If you have owned Wrapped TON in recent years, it's almost certainly this bridge. This distinction is more than just a footnote. Anyone who finds an old report about the first shutdown and believes that the issue is no longer related to them will let the ongoing deadline slip away. In the website's official developer documentation, early bridges from 2021 to 2023 are explicitly listed as legacy bridges and can be terminated at any time; you can read about this in the bridge section of the TON Developer Documentation.

Missing deadline: What happens to Wrapped TON after September 1, 2026

After the closure date, Bridge will no longer accept any transfers. The proxy token is still visible in your wallet, and that's where the trap lies: the balance displayed makes it feel like it's still there. But what is missing is a mechanism to turn it back to native Toncoin. Such tokens can only be traded if someone is willing to accept them. After the bridge is closed, this willingness will quickly disappear in practice because the equivalent value is no longer guaranteed. It is uncertain whether remedial procedures will be established subsequently, and no one should use them as the basis for their own planning. A similar case is currently happening in parallel: the migration of ICX to SODA also has a phased deadline, after which only one-way redemption can be made. The pattern is the same for both scenarios: the feature is restricted first, then closed, and the announcement is released months before the node date.

Checking TON bridging deadlines: Points you should take

Determine your position immediately and don't wait until August 31. Open every wallet you have ever used with this bridge and check Wrapped TON on the Ethereum and BNB smart chains, as well as j tokens on the TON network. Which wallet programs can correctly display which chains and tokens are listed in the Software Wallet Comparison. Reverse them during the percentage fee reduction period. Make sure there is network currency on the source chain, test it with a small amount, and then send the rest. If the balance is in an exchange account, please clarify your responsibilities with your service provider; trading platforms that support TON connections can be found in exchange comparisons. Record transactions before closing your wallet. Date, amount, sending and receiving address, network fees. If you connect the tax and portfolio tools before returning for redemption, it can process the allocation.

(As of August 21, 2026. This article does not constitute investment advice. Price and fee structures will change; please check terms with your service provider before purchasing.)