Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
-
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has announced that The Open Network (TON) will rename its native cryptocurrency “Gram,” reviving its original whitepaper name as part of his “Make TON Great Again” plan.
-
The TON blockchain name will remain unchanged, while the token rebrand is expected to take about three weeks.
Durov Announces Return to “Gram” Branding
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has announced that The Open Network’s native cryptocurrency will be renamed Gram, marking a return to the original name proposed in TON’s early white paper.
Durov said the move is part of his ongoing “Make TON Great Again” initiative and framed it as a return to the project’s foundational identity.
“Gram was the original name of TON’s currency in the first white paper,” Durov wrote. “We’re returning to our roots — and starting a new chapter.”
TON Blockchain to Retain Its Name
Under the planned transition, the blockchain itself will continue to operate under the name The Open Network (TON), while its native token will adopt the Gram branding.
Durov said the change is expected to take around three weeks to complete. The rebrand represents the fourth milestone in Durov’s seven-step “Make TON Great Again” (MTONGA) campaign. The remaining three steps have not yet been publicly disclosed.
Previously revealed steps include:
-
A network upgrade that allegedly made TON “ten times faster.”
-
Plans to reduce transaction fees by roughly six times
-
A proposal for Telegram to become a key ecosystem steward and validator
The Gram name dates back to Telegram’s original blockchain project launched in 2018, which was initially intended to power a decentralized payments ecosystem.
The original initiative was abandoned in 2020 after legal pressure from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission forced Telegram to halt its token sale and refund investors.
Following the shutdown, independent developers continued the project as The Open Network, which later became closely integrated with Telegram’s messaging and payments ecosystem.
Since its revival under community development, TON has grown into a broader blockchain ecosystem supporting payments, digital assets, and Telegram-based integrations — setting the stage for its latest branding shift back to Gram.
