Toncoin (TON) jumped about 11% to just above $2.30 on Monday before settling back, after Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that the token is being renamed to “Gram” over the next three weeks. Durov framed the rebranding as a return to the network’s origins, calling it “step 4 of 7 to Make TON Great Again.” The blockchain itself stays TON, and the transition won’t require holders, validators, or DeFi integrations to do anything.
Why the name Gram matters
It’s not a new name. Back in 2018, Telegram raised roughly $1.7 billion in two presale rounds for tokens that were supposed to be called Grams. The SEC stepped in late 2019, calling the offering an unregistered securities sale. A settlement the following June forced Telegram to return $1.2 billion to investors and pay an $18.5 million penalty. Those original Grams never saw the light of day — until now, effectively.
What users need to know
Durov says existing TON balances will keep working normally. The ticker will shift to GRAM once exchanges and wallets update. No action needed from holders. That’s a deliberate contrast to the 2018 mess, when the project stalled before launch. This time, the token is already live; it’s just a rename.
Durov’s roadmap so far
Step 4 is this rebrand. Earlier steps included rolling out Catchain 2.0 for sub-second block finality. Telegram also became the network’s largest validator, staking millions of tokens through the messenger’s infrastructure. Durov said three more steps remain in his seven-step plan, but he hasn’t laid them out publicly. The market seems to be pricing in optimism — TON is up about 56% over the past month, though it remains roughly 75% below its all-time high of $8.25. At press time it trades at $2.11.
What’s next
The three-week transition period is underway. Exchanges and wallet providers will need to update their listings to reflect the GRAM ticker. Durov’s remaining three roadmap steps are unknown, but with Telegram’s validator stake and the nostalgic pull of the Gram name, the project clearly wants to reclaim its original vision — this time without the SEC in the way.
