Telegram Brings Crypto Full Circle, Rebranding Toncoin Back to Gram

• Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said Toncoin (TON), the native token of The Open Network, will be renamed Gram within roughly three weeks, reviving the name from TON’s original 2018 white paper.
• The change is the fourth step in Durov’s seven-part “Make TON Great Again” plan, under which Telegram has displaced the TON Foundation as the network’s primary steward and become its largest validator.
• TON jumped more than 13% to about US$2.12 on the news, restoring a token name Telegram abandoned in 2020 after returning US$1.22 billion to investors and paying an US$18.5 million SEC penalty.

Telegram chief executive Pavel Durov said Monday that Toncoin will be renamed Gram within about three weeks, reviving the token’s original white-paper identity and completing the company’s takeover of a blockchain it was forced to abandon under US regulatory pressure six years ago.

In a post to his Telegram channel, Durov framed the change as a homecoming. “Gram was the original name of TON’s currency in the first white paper,” he stated. “We’re returning to our roots—and starting a new chapter. This rebranding will pave the way for what comes next.”

Basically, The Open Network keeps its name, token balances, staking positions and smart-contract functions stay unchanged, and holders need not perform a token swap to receive Gram. 

TON climbed over 13% to about US$2.12 (AU$2.97) within a day of the announcement, up roughly 58% over the prior month but still about 74% below its 2024 peak of US$8.25 (AU$11.55).

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Telegram Tightens Its Grip

The rebrand is the fourth step in a seven-part roadmap Durov has branded “Make TON Great Again.” Earlier steps cut transaction fees roughly sixfold, accelerated block times from about 2.5 seconds to 400 milliseconds through an April upgrade, and, on May 4, installed Telegram as the network’s largest validator in place of the Switzerland-based TON Foundation.

Durov said the foundation would cede its role as the network’s primary steward to Telegram, anchoring the blockchain to the messaging app’s billion-user base. The foundation remains a secondary entity, with a pending US$400 million (AU$560 million) private financing round.

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