The Gram token ($GRAM, formerly Toncoin/TON) showed a sharp decline overnight on August 4 following the temporary removal of Telegram from the App Store. The native token of the TON ecosystem, closely linked to Pavel Durov's messenger, momentarily plummeted by almost 6%.
Telegram was unavailable in the App Store for about an hour. Apple explained the removal by stating it had discovered content on the platform that violated its prohibition on materials related to child sexual exploitation. After the developer promptly removed the prohibited content and blocked the user who posted it, the messenger was fully restored.
After Telegram's return to the Apple App Store, the price of $GRAM partially recovered. Before the news, it was fluctuating around $1.41 and subsequently dropped to $1.32. As of 12:30 Moscow time on August 4, the token is trading around $1.38. The 24-hour drop is 1%.
Telegram commented on the situation briefly. The messenger's team responded with a paraphrase of a Mark Twain quote — "Reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated."
$GRAM does not react to all news about Telegram or Durov, even though after the rebranding, he made the messenger the driving force and main validator of the TON blockchain. Amid the renaming in June, the token increased in price by 20%, but it failed to consolidate at the new level and quickly retreated to the prices at which it traded before the event.
When it became known about charges being brought against Durov in Russia for allegedly aiding terrorism, as well as his potential international wanted status, the price of $GRAM hardly changed. At the moment the news appeared, the token briefly fell by approximately 2%, but recovered within a few minutes.
The recent announcement by Durov that the "largest deployment in human history" of a non-custodial crypto wallet would take place in the TON ecosystem this summer saw $GRAM react with a 7% increase. According to the founder of the messenger, the native wallet for the token will become available in all Telegram applications.
Gram reached its all-time high in the summer of 2024 at $8.24 — the decline since then is about 83%. The current price level of the token coincides with levels observed in 2021–2023.
"RBC-Crypto" does not provide investment advice; the material is published for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is a volatile asset that can lead to financial losses.
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