Pavel Durov rebrands TON token as Gram

The native cryptocurrency of The Open Network blockchain, previously known as Toncoin, will be rebranded as Gram, according to an announcement by Telegram founder Pavel Durov. The change, described as a return to the project's original identity, is expected to take approximately three weeks to implement and will not affect user balances, staking, or decentralized finance activities.

Durov stated that Gram was the name used for the currency in the project's original 2018 white paper. The announcement reconnects the current blockchain initiative with Telegram's initial ambitions, which were halted in 2020 following a legal challenge from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. After that dispute, Telegram stepped back from direct development, and the community continued the project independently under The Open Network name.

The rebranding is positioned as the fourth step in a seven-part initiative Durov has labeled "Make TON Great Again." Recent steps in this plan have included significant technical upgrades to the network, a reported six-fold reduction in transaction fees to near-zero levels, and Telegram assuming the role of the network's largest validator by staking...