Gram (prev. Toncoin) Price(TON)

The TON token recently surged nearly 120% in 4 days, approaching $3. This rally is primarily driven by Telegram founder Pavel Durov's announcement that Telegram will become the core driver of the TON network, replacing the TON Foundation and serving as its largest validator. This move signals a fundamental shift: Telegram is no longer just supporting TON from a distance but is formally taking over its governance and operations. This changes TON's valuation narrative from being a crypto project with Telegram's user base to becoming the foundational blockchain infrastructure for Telegram's future commercial ecosystem—transitioning from a crypto narrative to an internet-platform-level story. TON's recent technical upgrades focus on 10x faster speeds, 6x lower fees, and near-instant confirmations. These optimizations target Telegram's internal high-frequency, micro-transaction scenarios like tipping, bot services, and Mini App purchases. The goal is to enable seamless, near-zero-cost transactions for its nearly 1 billion users, making blockchain usage almost invisible—akin to platforms like WeChat Pay. TON's path is unique: it already has a massive user base and is building the blockchain system to serve it, aiming to onboard users into Web3 without them realizing it. The vision is to integrate wallet, payment, bot, and Mini App functionalities into a closed loop within Telegram, positioning TON as the value-exchange infrastructure for a super-app. In essence, this surge reflects a market reassessment: TON is emerging as the first blockchain ecosystem with a genuine super-app gateway. Its true competitors may not be other Layer 1 blockchains but global internet payment systems. With Telegram now fully committed, the experiment of on-chaining a super-app is underway.

Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, has announced a major shift in the development of The Open Network (TON). Telegram will now become the core driver of TON, replacing the TON Foundation and becoming its largest validator. The focus will be on technical upgrades over the next few weeks, including slashing network fees by six times to near-zero and improving finality time to 0.6 seconds. This move signifies a deeper integration between Telegram and TON, moving beyond just providing a user base. The goal is to transform Telegram's vast social traffic and built-in features—like Mini Apps, payments, and bots—into sustainable, on-chain usage scenarios. The reduced fees and faster speeds are crucial for enabling the small, frequent transactions typical of social interactions. While this promises stronger execution and product alignment, it raises questions about centralization. Durov argues Telegram's involvement will attract more validators, enhancing decentralization, but the outcome remains to be seen. Additionally, TON's high annual staking reward of 18.8% aims to retain capital within the ecosystem. The key challenge for TON is no longer just leveraging Telegram's entry point, but becoming an invisible, seamless infrastructure layer within Telegram's daily use. Its success hinges on converting viral attention into lasting, embedded utility.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that Telegram will replace the TON Foundation as the core driver and largest validator of The Open Network (TON). Key initiatives include a sixfold reduction in transaction fees, performance upgrades, and improved developer tools within the next few weeks. This marks a strategic shift from Telegram merely providing user access to deeply integrating TON into its platform's core infrastructure. The goal is to transform Telegram's massive social traffic into sustainable on-chain activity. While viral mini-apps like Notcoin have demonstrated Telegram's ability to drive user adoption, TON aims to support frequent, low-value transactions inherent to social platforms—such as tipping, in-app payments, and game rewards. Ultra-low fees and sub-second finality (0.6 seconds) are crucial to making blockchain interactions seamless and nearly invisible within the Telegram user experience. However, Telegram's increased central role raises questions about network decentralization. Durov argues that Telegram's participation will attract more large validators, thereby enhancing decentralization. TON also offers high annual staking rewards (18.8%), aiming to retain capital within its ecosystem. The fundamental challenge for TON is no longer leveraging Telegram's user base, but becoming an indispensable, seamless infrastructure layer for Telegram's everyday applications—moving from an adjacent chain to an embedded utility.

The native token of the Toncoin (TON) network is being rebranded to 'Gram,' reviving its original name from the project's first white paper. This change, announced by Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov, is the fourth step in his "Make TON Great Again" (MTONGA) initiative. The transition period is expected to take about three weeks, and a new logo has been previewed. The rebrand follows Telegram's official return to the ecosystem in May as its largest validator, after a six-year absence that began with a 2020 legal dispute with the SEC. Durov stated that the move "returns to our roots" and paves the way for future developments, with three more steps remaining in the MTONGA roadmap. At the time of the announcement, Gram was trading around $2.02.

After a community vote with over 81% support, The Open Network (TON) is officially renaming its native token from Toncoin back to Gram (with ticker GRAM), effective June 15. This move reclaims the original name from the project's 2018 inception under Telegram, before regulatory issues forced its halt. The rebrand to Gram is part of the "Make TON Great Again" strategy and is seen as more than a simple logo change. It aims to leverage the historical brand recognition and narrative associated with Telegram’s initial vision of a global blockchain network. Gram evokes the original story of bringing crypto to Telegram's massive user base. This shift comes as TON is experiencing significant growth, driven by Telegram's over 1 billion monthly active users and viral mini-apps like Notcoin. The ecosystem is expanding in wallets, active addresses, and payment use cases. Analysts suggest the name change could strengthen TON's unique identity in a crowded Layer 1 market by deepening its association with Telegram's vast distribution channel. While potentially boosting short-term market attention, the long-term focus remains on Gram's utility within Telegram's evolving ecosystem, particularly for payments, transfers, and mini-app transactions. The ultimate goal is for Gram to become a widely used digital currency within one of the world's largest social platforms.