TON's native currency will become Gram — the original name of the project

Pavel Durov has announced that the native currency of The Open Network will be renamed from Toncoin to Gram, returning the token to its original name from the project's earliest days. The blockchain itself will continue to be called TON, while only the cryptocurrency is being rebranded.

Alongside the announcement, the Telegram founder unveiled a new website at gram.org and outlined how the transition will take place.

"We're returning to our roots — and starting a new chapter. The transition will take around 3 weeks. TON remains the name of the blockchain. This is step 4 of 7 to Make TON Great Again," Durov stated.

A few hours before the official announcement, Telegram launched a preliminary community poll on renaming the TON ticker to GRAM, but it was quickly removed from the TON Vote platform.

The main vote was launched shortly afterward and has since shown strong support for the rebrand. According to the latest results, around 81% of the staked TON in the vote — 1.94 million coins across more than 1,000 wallets — has been cast in favor of the change. Approximately 19% has voted against, with a small fraction abstaining.

Despite the result, the announcement has divided parts of the community. Several users argued the outcome was effectively decided by a small group of large holders rather than reflecting broad community sentiment.

The main point of criticism focused on so-called whale wallets with significant balances that have been voting in favor of the rename. One such wallet holds approximately 1.5 million TON, worth around $3.3 million at current prices.

According to transaction history, this wallet may be linked to a miner address from which nearly 45 million TON were moved in 2020. Given long-standing questions about TON's early token distribution, the situation has raised concerns that a substantial share of the supply remains concentrated in a small number of hands.

The dynamics of the vote also drew attention. During the first 15 minutes, nearly 90% of participating wallets voted against the rebrand. Many of those wallets held relatively small balances, but their combined holdings amounted to nearly 42 million rubles in TON. The picture shifted significantly once larger holders began participating, producing the current outcome in favor of the change.

The rebrand comes during a period of growth for Toncoin. In early May, the price of the token rose on the back of Telegram's deeper involvement in TON's development. The messenger became the largest validator on the network, which Durov said strengthens decentralization.

The renaming now marks the fourth of seven steps in Durov's broader plan, known as MTONGA, or Make TON Great Again. Durov also noted that an increasing number of TON coins are being locked in staking, with users seeking yields of 20% or higher annually. Earlier, the Telegram founder announced that transaction fees on the TON network had been reduced sixfold, bringing them close to zero.