On June 1, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov posted on Telegram to announce that the native cryptocurrency of the TON blockchain will be renamed “Gram,” restoring the original name used in the project’s first whitepaper. This is the fourth step in the “Make TON Great Again (MTONGA)” seven-step plan he is pushing forward. The transition process is expected to take about three weeks.
The four publicly disclosed steps in the MTONGA plan
Durov first outlined the MTONGA plan in April 2026. Since then, the steps announced include: first, a network upgrade that makes TON “10x faster” and introduces sub-second transaction finality; second, transaction fees reduced by about six times; third, the announcement that Telegram will replace the TON Foundation, becoming the main manager and largest validator of the ecosystem; and fourth, the token renaming to Gram—this announcement. The remaining three steps had not been disclosed as of June 1.
Historical background of the Gram name
Telegram launched the original TON project in 2018, planning to issue a native token named “Gram.” In 2020, the SEC ruled that the Gram token sale violated securities laws, forcing Telegram to stop selling and then abandon the project. After that, investors filed a lawsuit seeking reimbursement of token purchase payments. Independent developers took over the project, continuing development under the name “TON (The Open Network),” and gradually integrated with the Telegram app ecosystem, mainly for payments and digital asset trading.
FAQ
After TON is renamed to Gram, will the name “TON” still be used?
According to Durov’s announcement, TON will continue to be used as the name of the blockchain itself, while Gram becomes the new name for the native coin; both names are retained simultaneously for their respective references.
Among the seven steps of the MTONGA plan, which steps have been made public so far?
As of June 1, the four disclosed steps are: the network upgrade that boosts speed by 10x, transaction fees reduced by about six times, Telegram replacing the TON Foundation to become the main manager and largest validator, and the token renaming to Gram. Steps five through seven have not yet been disclosed.
Why was the Gram name previously discontinued?
Gram was the token name of Telegram’s original TON project from 2018, and it was discontinued in 2020 due to SEC legal action—Telegram was forced to terminate its token sales plan. Since then, the TON taken over by independent developers has never used the Gram name until Durov’s recent announcement of the renaming.
