Pavel Durov has officially announced that TON's native currency is becoming Gram (GRAM), marking a nostalgic yet forward-looking shift for the Telegram-integrated blockchain. In a Telegram post, Durov stated "Gram was the original name of TON's currency in the first white paper. We're returning to our roots — and starting a new chapter." He emphasized that "Gram was the original name used for TON's currency in the project's first white paper" and described the move as a return to the network's roots. The rebrand positions this as a return to roots while advancing Telegram's control over the blockchain ecosystem, with the transition expected to take around three weeks. According to the latest announcement, only the name and ticker of the cryptocurrency will change, with no technical modifications to user balances, wallet addresses, NFTs, staking positions, DeFi assets, and smart contracts. As per the latest reports, TON gained 18.75% to $2.19 following the announcement, demonstrating strong market confidence in the strategic direction.
Gram was the token name during Telegram's initial TON (Telegram Open Network) push, which raised $1.7 billion before the SEC intervened in 2020. As reported by the announcement, Telegram abandoned the project, refunded investors, and open-sourced the code. The community relaunched it as Toncoin (TON) under the TON Foundation, with TON remaining the blockchain's name while only the currency rebrands to Gram. The rebranding restores the name originally envisioned by Telegram's blockchain project, which referred to TON, an acronym of Telegram Open Network at the time, and its native Gram cryptocurrency. The announcement carries historical significance because Gram was originally tied to Telegram's first blockchain ambitions before the company's 2020 legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The transition will take around three weeks, representing step 4 of 7 in Durov's "Make TON Great Again" (MTONGA) roadmap. Durov first outlined the transition in April when he celebrated a network upgrade that made TON "ten times faster" and introduced sub-second transaction settling.
TON rallied approximately 18.75% to $2.19 after the rebranding announcement, demonstrating strong market confidence in the strategic direction. The asset previously more than doubled following Durov's statement that Telegram became TON's largest validator. The sharp market move on June 1st triggered by Durov's statement indicates rapid trader response to the return of the Gram identity and Telegram's growing role in the ecosystem. The latest price action suggests traders interpreted the announcement as more than a cosmetic name change, with the rebrand potentially strengthening TON's identity around Telegram's original crypto vision. However, the rebranding has sparked diverse interpretations within the community, with some viewing it as merely a name change while others consider it the first step in broader plans that may be announced in the future.
TON is currently exhibiting a Buy technical sentiment with 4 out of 6 technical indicators flashing buy signals, while 2 are indicating sell. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at -, suggesting a neutral condition, with the MACD (12, 26) indicator at -, providing a neutral signal for short-term momentum. Other oscillators including the Stochastic Oscillator at - and the Commodity Channel Index (CCI) at - further confirm a neutral outlook for the crypto. From a structural perspective, TON is trading below its 60-day moving average of $-$ and below its 200-day long-term moving average of $-$. Key price levels to watch include immediate resistance at -$ and strong support at $-$. A break above **-$ could signal a bull continuation, while falling below -$ may test the next Fibonacci floor at $-$. The technical indicators suggest the recent rally has room for further upside momentum, supported by the positive market response to the rebrand announcement.
The Gram rebrand paves the way for mainstream adoption, positioning Gram as everyday crypto inside the world's leading messaging app. The announcement described the rebrand as "step 4 of 7" in a broader initiative titled 'Make TON Great Again'" with the remaining three steps still unrevealed. Earlier steps in the roadmap included major upgrades: Catchain 2.0 for sub-second finality, fee reductions by 6x to near-zero, and Telegram becoming TON's largest validator with millions of TON staked. The other two steps that have been revealed included reducing transaction fees by roughly sixfold and announcing plans for Telegram to replace the TON Foundation as the ecosystem's primary steward and largest validator. The team stated that recent developments have boosted blockchain performance tenfold while lowering fees by approximately six times. These improvements are expected to enhance the blockchain's utility and accessibility within Telegram's ecosystem, with the rebrand further strengthening TON's identity around Telegram's original crypto vision. Durov also argued that "$TON is one of the world's most decentralized blockchain networks," noting that Telegram becoming the largest validator allows major exchanges and custodian service providers to stake $TON without increasing the risk of centralization.
