Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced a rebranding of the Toncoin ecosystem on Wednesday, changing the token’s name to GRAM. The price of the cryptocurrency shot up more than 10% within hours of the news. The move marks a renewed role for Telegram itself in the Toncoin project after a period of distance.
Rebranding to GRAM
The token previously known as Toncoin will now trade under the ticker GRAM. Durov made the announcement on his Telegram channel, though he did not explain the reasoning behind the renaming. The change brings back the name of Telegram’s original planned cryptocurrency, which was shelved after a legal fight with U.S. regulators in 2020.
Back then, the company raised $1.7 billion from investors for the GRAM token and the Telegram Open Network. The project was scrapped after the SEC called it an unregistered securities offering. Durov settled with the SEC in 2021, paying an $18.5 million fine and returning funds to investors. The community later revived the network under the Toncoin name — until now.
Telegram’s renewed role
In the same announcement, Durov said Telegram is again becoming a key part of the Toncoin ecosystem. That’s a turn from the previous few years, when the messaging app kept its distance from the project to avoid further regulatory trouble. The company didn’t detail what its new role will look like, but the change signals deeper integration ahead.
Telegram has already added Toncoin-based features in recent months, including a wallet bot and the ability to buy ads with the token. Durov has talked about bringing more blockchain tools to the app, such as decentralized storage and identity verification. The GRAM rebranding could be a step toward making those features official.
Market reaction
Investors reacted quickly. The token’s price climbed over 10% in the hours after Durov’s post, according to CoinGecko data. Volume also spiked as traders rushed to buy. The move pushed GRAM’s market cap into the top 20 cryptocurrencies by size, though the rally later cooled slightly.
Some longtime holders saw the rebranding as a symbolic return to the project’s roots. Others wondered whether the name change would draw more attention from U.S. regulators, given the earlier SEC case. The agency has not commented on the rebranding.
For now, the ecosystem is left with a question: how close will Telegram actually get to the token this time? Durov hasn’t said whether the company will hold any GRAM or integrate it directly into the app’s core services. The next update from the Telegram channel might provide the answer.
