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T TON Adoption
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NODE/03 · Term

Secondary Market

A market where issued assets — NFTs, Telegram gifts, tokens — are resold between users. Opposite of the primary market (mint from the issuer). On TON it spans gift marketplaces (Portals, Tonnel, MRKT) and NFT venues like Getgems.

Aliases: resale market, aftermarket

A secondary market is where an asset trades after it has been issued — minted or sold for the first time. On the primary market the seller is the issuer; on the secondary, any holder.

Why secondary markets matter

  • Liquidity. A buyer can see they can exit the position, which lowers perceived risk.
  • Price signal. Floor and average trade clear price reflect demand better than the primary mint price.
  • Royalty revenue. With TEP-66 royalties, the creator can collect a percentage on each resale — aligning long-term incentives.

Context on TON

Main secondary venues by asset class:

Primary vs secondary

AspectPrimarySecondary
SellerIssuer / projectAny holder
PriceFixed by mintFloats with floor / demand
Creator royaltyN/AVia TEP-66 (often 2–10%)
Volume profileShort burst at launchLong-tail activity

Risks

  • Wash trading can inflate visible volume.
  • Thin-market slippage when buying size.
  • Contract risk at the marketplace level — see escrow, audit.

Related terms