Masterchain
The head blockchain in the TON network. Stores network state — validator set, active shards, configuration. One masterchain per network.
Aliases: master chain, ton master
Masterchain is the coordinating blockchain in TON’s architecture. Every other chain (workchains, shards) references it to stay in sync.
What it stores
- Validator set for the current and next cycle.
- Network configuration: protocol parameters, slashing rules, emission rates.
- Block hashes of the latest blocks across all workchains and shards — letting any chain prove its state by referencing the masterchain.
- Global transactions: only a restricted class of operations (e.g. parameter governance).
Why split it out
Without a masterchain, parallel shards can’t agree on shared state — who’s a validator, what the rules are, which blocks are “final”. The masterchain acts as a source of truth: its finalisation is near-instant (a few seconds), and its blocks are tiny, because ordinary transactions don’t pass through it.
The trade-off: the masterchain is the coordination point, so its throughput is lower than that of workchains. In exchange, it never becomes a bottleneck for user load.
Link to workchains
Each workchain block embeds a reference to the masterchain. Each masterchain block embeds references to the latest blocks of active workchains. These cross-links assemble TON’s network state into a single graph.