What is Gram (prev. Toncoin) (GRAM)?

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Telegram Integration

Gram's core purpose is to serve as the native currency for The Open Network (TON), a blockchain originally conceived by Telegram's founders. Its primary value proposition is deep integration with Telegram, offering its nearly one billion users a seamless path to crypto payments, mini-apps, and digital services. The TON Foundation's vision is to empower users to own their digital identity and assets through this ecosystem (Vortex).

2. Technology & Architecture

TON is a proof-of-stake (PoS) layer-1 blockchain, meaning validators stake GRAM tokens to secure the network and process transactions. It's built for scalability and speed, with recent upgrades like Catchain 2.0 aiming for sub-second block finality. This architecture supports fast, low-cost transactions, positioning GRAM as a practical currency for everyday use cases within and beyond Telegram.

3. The Toncoin to Gram Rebrand

In June 2026, the community approved renaming the native token from Toncoin (TON) back to its original 2018 name, Gram (GRAM). This was a branding change to clarify TON as the blockchain and Gram as its currency, similar to Ethereum and ETH. Critically, no new token was issued; existing balances converted automatically 1:1, requiring no action from users (Tapbit).

Conclusion

Fundamentally, Gram is the utility token powering a high-performance blockchain built for mass adoption through Telegram. Will its deep integration with a major messaging platform be the key to moving crypto into mainstream daily use?