Toncoin Surges 19.5% Following Rebranding Announcement

TON surged 19.5% after rebranding announcement to Gram.

The price of Toncoin (TON) surged following Pavel Durov’s announcement of rebranding the blockchain’s native cryptocurrency to Gram. Within a day, the asset’s value jumped from $1.89 to $2.26 (+19.5%).

At the time of writing, the price of TON had adjusted to $2.

The founder of Telegram explained that the rebranding is the fourth step out of seven in the Make TON Great Again (MTONGA) initiative. According to him, the transition to the historical name Gram will take about three weeks, while the network will retain the name The Open Network (TON).

“We are returning to our roots — and starting a new chapter. This change will pave the way for what comes next,” Durov stated.

Simultaneously, the Gram website was launched. A few hours before Durov’s post, a vote on renaming the ticker from TON to GRAM appeared on TON Vote but was quickly removed. Later, the main vote was posted on the platform.

The community erupted in debate: according to “Durov’s Code,” some users fear that the outcome of the vote could be disproportionately influenced by large holders.

One of the wallets voting for the rebranding holds about 1.5 million TON — approximately $3.3 million. This address may be linked to a miner’s wallet from which nearly 45 million TON were withdrawn in 2020.

According to “Durov’s Code,” in the first 15 minutes of the current vote, nearly 90% of wallets opposed the rebranding. These were mainly addresses with small balances, collectively holding TON worth $578,866.

The History of Gram

The name Gram refers to the original Telegram Open Network project, which Durov attempted to launch between 2018 and 2020. At that time, the company raised $1.7 billion from accredited investors through SAFT (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens) deals.

However, in 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) obtained a temporary ban on the distribution of tokens. The regulator insisted that Grams were unregistered securities and that the Howey Test should apply to the entire investment scheme, including secondary resale.

In 2020, the Southern District of New York court supported the SEC’s position, calling the initial token sale part of a single investment contract. As a result of regulatory pressure, Durov officially ceased involvement in TON’s development, returned some funds to investors, and the project was handed over to an independent developer community and later renamed Toncoin.

In May, Durov announced TON’s leadership among L1 networks in transaction finalization.