Toncoin jumped about 11% on Monday after Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov announced that The Open Network’s native token will be renamed from Toncoin to “Gram” over the next three weeks. The blockchain will continue to be called TON, and the transition will not require any action from holders, validators, or DeFi integrations, Durov said.
TON Token Rebrands to “Gram”
Durov described the move as a return to the project’s original branding. “TON’s native currency is becoming Gram,” he wrote, noting that “Gram was the original name of TON’s currency in the first white paper.” He characterized the change as the start of “a new chapter” and identified it as “step 4 of 7 to Make TON Great Again,” part of a broader roadmap he has shared since May.
According to Durov, existing TON balances will continue to function normally. The asset will trade under the GRAM ticker once exchanges and wallets complete updates to their systems.
Legal Backdrop to the “Gram” Name
The Gram name carries significant legal history. In 2018, Telegram raised about $1.7 billion in two private fundraising rounds for planned Gram tokens that were never issued. In October 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an emergency court order halting the offering, alleging it was an unregistered securities sale. Telegram later settled the case in June 2020, agreeing to return $1.2 billion to investors and pay an $18.5 million civil penalty.
Roadmap Progress and Network Upgrades
Durov’s announcement follows a series of changes he said were implemented after he assumed validator responsibilities in May. Earlier steps included rolling out Catchain 2.0 to target sub-second block finality. Durov also said Telegram has become the network’s largest validator, with millions of tokens staked via the messaging platform’s infrastructure.
Three additional steps remain in the seven-step roadmap, though Durov has not publicly detailed what those will include.
Market Reaction
Following the rebrand announcement, Toncoin briefly traded above approximately $2.30 before easing. At the time of writing, TON is around $2.11, up roughly 56% over the past month but still about 75% below its all-time high near $8.25. The token is expected to appear under the GRAM ticker as exchanges and wallets complete the transition in the coming weeks.