TON token change to GRAM: what you need to know
TON History: from Telegram Open Network to GRAM
Few crypto projects can boast a biography as rich as The Open Network. Most blockchains are born, grow, and either die quietly or slowly settle into a niche. TON took a different path — loud, controversial, and ultimately triumphant.
Over eight years, the project managed to raise $1.7 billion in one of the largest ICOs in crypto history, face a court ban from a U.S. regulator, be publicly “buried” by its own creator, be revived by an anonymous community of enthusiasts, and ultimately return under Telegram’s wing under entirely different conditions.
Every change left a mark on the project’s DNA. That is why the 2026 decision to restore the token’s name to GRAM cannot be seen as a routine rebranding. It is the final chord of a story that began long before most Telegram users had even heard the word “blockchain.” To understand why this name matters so much, one must go through the entire journey from the beginning.
2018: White Paper, Ambitions, and $1.7 Billion
It all began with a technical document unveiled by the Durov brothers in early 2018. Pavel and Nikolai wanted more than just a messenger: Telegram Open Network was envisioned as a blockchain infrastructure that would make communication truly secure — with an anonymous proxy, decentralized storage, and built-in payment tools.
By ambition, TON aimed to become an alternative to Visa and Mastercard: developers claimed the network could process millions of transactions per second, which at the time was beyond the reach of most competitors.
The private ICO in February–March 2018 exceeded all expectations. Across two rounds, Telegram raised $1.7 billion from investors — one of the largest funding rounds in crypto history. Nearly half of the total token supply found its first owners. The project’s native coin was then called Gram — and it appeared under this name in all documentation long before any public launch, from the very first pages of the original white paper.
2019–2020: SEC, Court, and a Forced Farewell
By spring 2019, launch seemed inevitable. In April, the team opened a closed blockchain test for a limited group of participants — the network was working, tokens were moving, and the October deadline looked realistic.
But in October, just days before launch, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stepped in and filed official charges against Telegram, arguing that the issuance of Gram constituted an illegal securities offering without proper registration. According to the regulator’s logic, initial token buyers automatically became underwriters in its further distribution — meaning the entire ICO mechanism violated U.S. securities law.
Pavel Durov called the court decision absurd: U.S. authorities effectively blocked the issuance of the token not only within the United States but also worldwide. However, Durov was not willing to engage in a prolonged legal battle. Investors were offered refunds of their contributions.
In May 2020, Pavel Durov publicly drew a line: “We have made the difficult decision not to continue work on TON. Telegram officially exits the project and ceases any involvement in it.” In two and a half years, the team had built a technology that was never meant to be launched under Telegram’s banner. The token remained unissued — a public launch never happened, at least at that time.
2020–2022: Life After “Death”
Telegram’s exit did not mean the end of the project — it meant its handover. In July 2020, the messaging team made an unexpected move: all unallocated Gram tokens were placed into open smart contracts, accessible to anyone under equal conditions. No privileges, no presales — pure mining. The mechanism was called Initial Proof-of-Work (IPoW), and the blockchain came to life without its creators.
Two communities — Newton and Free TON — competed for the right to become the official successor of Telegram Open Network. Diplomacy prevailed: in June 2021, the Newton team sent an open letter to Durov requesting rights to the project’s codebase and the ton.org domain. Durov agreed. The project was rebranded as The Open Network, and the coin received a new name — Toncoin.
The network was generating around 200,000 coins daily. By the end of June 2022, the last block had been mined — the mining era came to an end. The blockchain transitioned to Proof of Stake, and the mining epoch was officially closed.
2024–2026: Telegram Returns and Closes the Loop
When Telegram officially took control of The Open Network, the ecosystem moved forward sharply and decisively. An integrated wallet, mini-apps, tap-to-earn games, and DeFi services all emerged within a messenger with over a billion users. No other blockchain had such a direct entry point to mass adoption.
On June 1, 2026, Pavel Durov announced the final touch: the token would return to the name it started with. The community vote passed decisively — 81.2% of participants supported renaming Toncoin to Gram. On June 15, the rebranding took effect. The ticker changed from TON to GRAM, and the logo was updated. Everything else — addresses, balances, smart contracts, NFTs, staking, and DeFi positions — remained untouched.
The circle was complete. The token that U.S. regulators prevented from launching under the name Gram in 2019 returned seven years later to its original name — now without legal restrictions and as part of one of the largest blockchains in the world.
Why TON was renamed to GRAM
For those familiar with TON’s history, this decision is hardly surprising. Gram is not a marketing invention or an attempt to refresh the token’s image. It is the name that appeared in the very first technical document of the Telegram Open Network back in 2018, long before the SEC disrupted the original plans.
Back then, eight years ago, Telegram raised $1.7 billion with the promise of launching a blockchain featuring a native currency under exactly this name. The regulator ultimately blocked the launch, the token was never released, and the name Gram remained archived in the white paper. When the community later revived the project independently, the coin was renamed Toncoin as a compromise, without claiming its original heritage.
Now, that heritage is being officially restored. According to Durov, renaming Toncoin to Gram is the fourth step in a seven-stage strategic plan called “Make TON Great Again” (MTONGA). It is not just a cosmetic change, but a deliberate return to the roots — reconnecting the modern network with the original vision the Durov brothers presented to investors in 2018.
What exactly changed
The scale of changes was intentionally modest. The team did not redesign the network architecture or rewrite its rules — the rebranding affected only the token’s external layer.
Three concrete changes were made: the coin’s name changed from Toncoin to Gram, the exchange ticker shifted from TON to GRAM, and the visual logo was updated. Everything else — the network itself, its protocols, smart contracts, and infrastructure — continues to operate under the existing name The Open Network.
On trading platforms, familiar pairs like TON/USDT gradually migrated to GRAM/USDT. Exchanges and ecosystem projects were given a deadline of June 22 to synchronize interfaces and update asset displays. During the transition period, the recommended label was “Gram (prev. Toncoin)” to avoid confusion and clarify that it is the same token under a new name.
What stayed unchanged
The short answer for holders: absolutely everything that has real value.
GRAM is not a new token, not a separate jetton, and not an asset that needs to be claimed or swapped. It is the same Toncoin, simply displayed under a new name. The conversion happened automatically at a 1:1 ratio — with no action required from holders.
The Open Network team officially confirmed that wallet addresses remain the same, balances unchanged, staking continues as normal, and NFTs, smart contracts, and all DeFi positions are unaffected. Not a single figure or asset moved — only the displayed name in wallets changed.
How to avoid scams
Major crypto events always attract scammers — and the GRAM rebranding was no exception. While some users were excited about the update, others were already receiving messages offering “help with migration.”
The key rule is simple: there is no migration. It happened automatically across all platforms without user involvement, wallet connections, or transfers.
Any website offering to “swap TON to GRAM,” open a claim page, complete verification, or connect a wallet for migration is fraudulent. It does not matter how legitimate it looks — whether it is a polished website, a bot, or “support staff” in private messages. The pattern is always the same: gaining access to a victim’s wallet under the guise of a fake procedure.
If you held genuine Toncoin at the time of the rebrand, you already hold GRAM. No further action is required.
How the rebrand affected price
The market reacted quickly but unevenly. Within the first 24 hours after the announcement, the token gained over 13%, reaching $2.26. Traders viewed the news as a positive signal — a return to origins and a stronger connection with Telegram added symbolic weight to the project.
However, the euphoria was short-lived. Closer to the official activation date, the token corrected downward, losing 18% over the week. In reality, this movement was driven less by the rebrand itself and more by overall crypto market pressure — GRAM simply moved with the broader market, not against it.
What awaits GRAM in the future
The renaming is just one step in the broader seven-stage MTONGA program and far from the last. TON Strategy, a major holder and validator in the ecosystem, directly links GRAM to the development of Telegram’s internal financial infrastructure: built-in wallets, payment services, consumer applications, and AI-driven scenarios. Meanwhile, Cocoon is gaining momentum — a decentralized network built on TON where anyone with a GPU can monetize idle computing power by renting it out and earning rewards in GRAM.
The key question is no longer the name, but whether the rebrand will be followed by real network adoption growth. The ecosystem has gained more than just a new ticker — it now has a reference point connecting 2018 ambitions with a messenger ecosystem of over a billion users. The unfinished story of Gram has finally received the continuation it was denied seven years ago.