TON Rebrands to Gram, Token Surges 15% on Announcement
In brief
- Open Network rebrands Toncoin (TON) to Gram (GRAM), restoring its original white paper name.
- TON surged 15% to $2.25 on announcement, retreating to $2.07 by Tuesday morning.
- SEC blocked Telegram's $1.7B 2020 ICO, forcing the network to abandon the Gram name initially.
- Rebrand requires no token swap; community voting shows 80% support.
- Three-week transition timeline as part of Make TON Great Again roadmap.
The Rebrand Vote and Market Reaction
The Open Network launched a vote on the rebrand proposal on Monday, explaining that there is no token swap, migration, bridge, claim or conversion required. At the time of writing, 1.8 million TON, or almost 80%, were pledged in favor of the rebrand.
The market responded sharply. TON token price surged more than 15% from around $1.95 to top $2.25 in late trading on Monday following the announcement. The momentum didn't hold. By Tuesday morning, the token had retreated to $2.07.
The Road Back to Gram
Gram was the original name of TON's currency in the first white paper before legal pressure forced a pivot. Telegram abandoned the Gram name after the US Securities and Exchange Commission blocked its $1.7 billion initial coin offering in 2020. The network operated under TON for years while Telegram worked to distance itself from the project.
That changed in May. Telegram took over from the TON Foundation as the network's primary driver and largest validator, signaling a deeper commitment to the ecosystem. The rebrand is the fourth stage of the Make TON Great Again roadmap, and the transition will take around three weeks.
Gram in Context
The endgame is to power a seamless Web3 "super app" experience inside Telegram for its one billion users. It's a long-term bet. TON remains down 75% from its June 2024 all-time high of $8.25, a reminder that sentiment in crypto shifts fast.
Frequently asked questions
Why is TON rebranding to Gram?
Gram was the original name of TON's currency in the first white paper. Telegram abandoned it after the SEC blocked its $1.7 billion ICO in 2020. Now that Telegram has taken over as the network's primary driver, the project is returning to its roots.
Will I need to swap or migrate my TON tokens?
No. The Open Network specified that the rebrand requires no token swap, migration, bridge, claim or conversion. Holders will automatically have GRAM instead of TON after the three-week transition.
What is The Open Network's long-term vision?
The endgame is to power a seamless Web3 super app experience inside Telegram for its one billion users. The rebrand is the fourth stage of the Make TON Great Again roadmap.
