The Open Network says it is planning to rebrand its Toncoin (TON) token to Gram (GRAM), the original name of the network’s cryptocurrency in its first white paper.
“Gram was the original name of TON’s currency in the first white paper,” Telegram and TON founder Pavel Durov posted to Telegram on Monday. “We’re returning to our roots — and starting a new chapter.”
The rebranding will “pave the way for what comes next,” and the transition will take around three weeks, he added.
The change revives the original token name from TON’s 2018 whitepaper, which Telegram abandoned after the US Securities and Exchange Commission blocked its $1.7 billion initial coin offering (ICO) in 2020.
The move follows Telegram’s takeover from the TON Foundation as the network’s primary driver and largest validator in May.
The Open Network launched a vote on the proposal on Monday, explaining that there is no swap, migration, bridge, claim or conversion, and every balance, address, contract and position stays exactly as it is currently.
At the time of writing, there were 1.8 million TON, or almost 80%, pledged in favor of the rebrand.
Voting for TON rebranding is underway. Source: The Open Network
Durov has positioned the token rebrand as part of the “Make TON Great Again” roadmap. The rebrand is the fourth stage of the roadmap, with the first three coming earlier this year that included an upgrade to Catchain in April to boost blockchain speed, a decrease in transaction fees, and the Telegram takeover.
“These changes mark a milestone for the network — and a natural moment to refresh how the token is known publicly,” TON stated.
The endgame is to power a seamless Web3 “super app” experience inside Telegram for its one billion users, turning the messenger into a global platform for payments, mini-apps, digital ownership, AI agents, and more.
Related: TON Pay aims to turn Telegram into a crypto checkout layer for TON
TON prices reacted strongly to the announcement, surging more than 15% from around $1.95 to top $2.25 in late trading on Monday.
The token had retreated by Tuesday morning, falling back to $2.07, and it remains down 75% from its June 2024 all-time high of $8.25, according to CoinGecko.
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