Toncoin becomes Gram: Why Durov restored token's original name

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Toncoin becomes Gram

TON changes its name on exchanges

The Open Network has officially renamed its native token from Toncoin to Gram. The asset’s ticker is changing from TON to GRAM. The decision was made through a community vote: 81.22% of participants supported the proposal.

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Durov announced the changes a couple of weeks ago, but they only came into effect on June 15, 2026. The network itself will continue to be called The Open Network, or TON. Only the token’s name, ticker and branding are changing.

Exchanges, wallets and blockchain explorers have already started updating asset names in their interfaces. Trading pairs such as TON/USDT are moving to the GRAM/USDT format. Order books, trading history and deposit and withdrawal addresses remain unchanged.

During the transition period, platforms were advised to use the name “Gram (prev. Toncoin).” The ecosystem is expected to complete the transition to the new brand by June 22. For users, this is not a migration: 1 TON is simply displayed as 1 GRAM, while balances, staking, NFTs, Jettons, smart contracts and DeFi positions remain unchanged.

The name where it all began

Gram is far from a new name. This is what the asset was called in the first version of the Telegram Open Network project. The TON white paper was released in 2018, and the project itself was developed by Pavel and Nikolai Durov.

Telegram wanted to turn TON into a blockchain for applications and financial settlements. Its native token was supposed to be Gram. To launch the project, the company raised about $1.7 billion from investors.

The problems began in October 2019. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Telegram Group Inc. and TON Issuer Inc. The SEC said the sale of Gram was an unregistered securities offering.

In March 2020, the court sided with the SEC. In May, Pavel Durov announced that Telegram was ending its work on TON. In June, the company reached a settlement with the regulator, returned more than $1.2 billion to investors and paid an $18.5 million fine.

By that time, TON’s source code had become open, and the community continued developing the network. The project was later renamed The Open Network, and its token became known as Toncoin.

A foundation for new services

The return of the Gram name coincided with other TON initiatives. In April, Pavel Durov announced the Make TON Great Again strategy. It includes seven stages of network development, including higher performance, lower fees and scaling.

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Part of this work has already been completed. According to Durov, after one of the upgrades, TON’s performance increased tenfold, block production became six times faster, and transactions began to be processed in less than a second. He named a sixfold fee reduction as the next step.

TON is also developing areas beyond regular transfers and DeFi. In December 2025, Durov announced the launch of Cocoon, a decentralized AI network based on TON. In it, GPU owners can rent out computing power and receive payments in the network’s native asset.

TON Strategy Company also links Gram to future services inside Telegram. The company mentions wallets, payments, consumer apps and AI scenarios. TON Strategy describes itself as a major holder and validator in the TON ecosystem and plans to accumulate and stake Gram.

What is behind Gram’s return

For Gram holders, the rebrand does not change the basic terms. The asset remains the same, addresses and balances are preserved, and the network continues to operate under the name The Open Network. The main change is at the brand level: Toncoin is leaving, and the name Telegram started the project with in 2018 is returning in its place.

For TON, this is an attempt to connect Gram’s old story with new infrastructure around Telegram. The project already has an upgraded network, plans to reduce fees, the Cocoon AI project and public companies such as TON Strategy, which are betting on accumulating and staking the asset. The ecosystem now needs to show that the name change will not remain just a rebrand, but will be accompanied by growth in real Gram usage.

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