The token is now Gram (GRAM) — renamed from Toncoin (TON) on 15 June 2026 after an 81.22% community vote. Only the name, ticker and logo changed. The network is still called The Open Network (TON). Amounts quoted below are historical and were correct when written.
TON History
Chapter 1 • 2017-2018
The Telegram Dream
In late 2017, Pavel Durov — the founder of Telegram — had a problem that most startups would envy: his messaging app had hundreds of millions of users and was growing fast, but no clear path to profitability.
His solution? Build a blockchain. Not just any blockchain — one designed specifically for Telegram's scale.
The Vision
Dec 2017
The Whitepaper Drops
Pavel and his brother Nikolai publish the TON (Telegram Open Network) whitepaper. It describes a blockchain capable of handling millions of transactions per second — far beyond Bitcoin or Ethereum at the time.
Jan 2018
Private Sale Begins
Telegram starts raising money from private investors. The pitch: Gram tokens will power payments inside Telegram, reaching 200+ million users instantly.
Why Blockchain?
Telegram was (and still is) fiercely protective of user privacy. That meant no ads, no data selling. But servers cost money. A lot of money.
Pavel had self-funded Telegram for years. The blockchain wasn't just tech ambition — it was a survival strategy. Native payments could generate revenue without compromising privacy.
In 2017-2018, Ethereum could handle ~15 transactions per second. Telegram had 200 million monthly users. The math didn't work.
The Durov brothers designed TON from scratch with "infinite sharding" — the ability to split into as many parallel chains as needed. In theory, it could scale to millions of TPS.
The native token was called "Gram" — a play on Telegram. It would be used for:
• In-app payments and tips
• TON Storage (decentralized file hosting)
• TON Proxy (censorship-resistant internet access)
• TON DNS (human-readable addresses)
• Transaction fees
Everything Telegram needed, decentralized.
Fun fact: The original whitepaper described TON as "Telegram Open Network." Today it stands for "The Open Network" — a subtle but important shift that happened after Telegram had to step away.