TON revives Gram token brand as Telegram CEO Durov says network is 'returning to roots'

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said Monday that The Open Network's native cryptocurrency (TON) will be renamed Gram, reviving the original name proposed in the project's first white paper as part of his ongoing "Make TON Great Again" initiative.

"Gram was the original name of TON's currency in the first white paper," Durov wrote in a Telegram post. "We're returning to our roots — and starting a new chapter."

The transition is expected to take around three weeks, according to Durov, who said TON will remain the name of the blockchain while Gram becomes the name of the native currency.

The rebrand is the fourth of seven planned steps in Durov's MTONGA campaign, though the remaining three steps have not yet been publicly disclosed.

Durov first outlined the transition in April when he celebrated a network upgrade that he said made TON "ten times faster" and introduced sub-second transaction settling.