GRAM

Gram (ex-Toncoin)

Layer 1

Telegram's own blockchain, now run and branded by Telegram, but paid usage is tiny and a big unlock nears.

Telegram bet, thin usage v1.1 · as of 2026-10-20 · framework v1.13 Coinsight · all analyses
Bottom line

Telegram moved from partner to operator in 2026: it replaced the TON Foundation as the network's driving force and largest validator, renamed Toncoin to Gram and is rolling out a self-custodial Gram Wallet to its users. The token has not followed: −40% over a year and −50% from the May high of $2.72. On-chain fees are about $69k a month, far below the ~0.6% yearly validator issuance, and ~1.08B GRAM in frozen early-miner wallets becomes eligible to move on 21 Feb 2027. The case rests almost entirely on Telegram turning its billion users into paying on-chain users.

Scorecard (1–5)
Project
Token performance
Tokenomics
Price
$1.35
−1.2% 24h · −3% 30d · CoinGecko 20 Oct
Market cap
$3.82B
rank #31 · FDV $7.10B, no max supply
24h volume
$27.1M
0.7% of market cap
From ATH
−84%
ATH $8.25, Jun 2024
2026 YTD
−19%
$1.66 → $1.35
Stablecoins on TON
~$0.74B
~77% USDT · DefiLlama 17 Oct

The last 12 months

$1$2$3Oct 25NovDecJan 26FebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 272025-11-18: $1.7551$1.762026-03-28: $1.2174$1.22 low2026-05-08: $2.7173$2.72 peak2026-10-20: $1.3475$1.351Coinbase lists TON2Catchain 2.0: 10× faster3Telegram takes over TON412-month high at $2.725Toncoin renamed Gram6Durov questioned again7Gram Wallet announced8Wallet opens to more users9MTONGA steps 5–710Frozen miner wallets release
MarketTechGovernanceProductAdoptionUpcoming

Daily closes from CoinGecko, 21 Oct 2025 to 20 Oct 2026.

Key events
  1. 1
    18 Nov 25 Coinbase lists TON. Spot TON-USD trading opens on Coinbase, after Robinhood and Gemini earlier in 2025.
  2. 2
    10 Apr 26 Catchain 2.0: 10× faster. Block time falls from ~2.5 s to ~0.4 s; step 1 of Durov's seven-step plan.
  3. 3
    04 May 26 Telegram takes over TON. Telegram replaces the TON Foundation as driving force and largest validator; fees cut ~6×; price +36% in a day.
  4. 4
    08 May 26 12-month high at $2.72. The takeover rally peaks, then halves to $1.32 by 17 Sep.
  5. 5
    15 Jun 26 Toncoin renamed Gram. 81.22% of the community vote backs the rename to GRAM; no swap, balances unchanged.
  6. 6
    08 Jul 26 Durov questioned again. Fourth questioning in the French probe; still no trial date.
  7. 7
    21 Jul 26 Gram Wallet announced. Durov announces a native self-custodial wallet for every Telegram user, rolled out in phases.
  8. 8
    09 Oct 26 Wallet opens to more users. Telegram widens access; GRAM jumps then gives back the gain within days.
  9. 9
    Soon MTONGA steps 5–7. Three remaining roadmap steps, not yet announced; Durov reveals each one as it ships.
  10. 10
    21 Feb Frozen miner wallets release. The 48-month freeze on ~1.08B GRAM in early-miner wallets ends on 21 Feb 2027.

How a Gram payment inside Telegram flows over TON

User
Opens Gram Wallet in Telegram

Self-custodial: keys stay on the device; Telegram cannot reset them.

Mini app
Requests a payment

A mini app, username or merchant asks for GRAM or USDT.

TON network
Message routed to a shard

Fee of ~$0.0005 paid in GRAM; Telegram presents transfers as zero-fee.

Validators
Catchain 2.0 consensus

~385 validators, Telegram the largest; sub-second finality.

Protocol
Fee split and rewards

Half the fee is burned, half goes to validators with newly minted GRAM.

Receiver
Gets GRAM or USDT

Can hold, spend in Telegram, or cash out via an exchange.

Where GRAM comes in: every transaction pays gas and storage in GRAM, half of it burned, and validators must stake GRAM and earn newly minted rewards. USDT payments still need GRAM for gas, but at ~$0.0005 per transfer the burn is tiny, so value accrual depends on volume growing by orders of magnitude.

Usage and adoption

USD per year (fees annualised from 30 days)
Chain fees
~$0.84M
Fees burned (50%)
~$0.42M
Validator issuance (~0.6%)
~$43M

Chain fees of $68,656 in the 30 days to early Oct 2026 (Phemex, from DefiLlama) annualise to ~$0.84M; half is burned. Issuance uses the ~0.6% yearly design rate on ~5.27B GRAM at $1.35, so it is an estimate and may be higher after Catchain 2.0. Fees cover about 2% of new supply. Not shown: ~1.08B GRAM (≈ $1.46B) in frozen early-miner wallets eligible to move from 21 Feb 2027.

  • strong signal
    Chain fees
    ~$69k / 30 days

    Early Oct 2026. Gas paid to the network; tiny after the ~6× fee cut.

  • strong signal
    Stablecoins
    ~$0.74B

    DefiLlama, 17 Oct; ~77% USDT. Real money on TON, but flat rather than growing.

  • medium signal
    DeFi TVL
    ~$49M

    DefiLlama, 17 Oct; down from ~$70M in early May.

  • medium signal
    Treasury holdings
    ~230.5M GRAM

    TON Strategy (TONX), 30 Jun 2026: ~4.4% of supply, nearly all staked.

  • weak signal
    “Monthly active wallets”
    ~2.2M

    Coin Bureau, Sep 2026. Definition unclear; small next to Telegram's ~1B users.

Telegram gives TON unmatched distribution, but paid usage is very small: fees cover about 2% of validator issuance and stablecoin supply is flat. The scoreboard to watch is monthly chain fees and USDT on TON as Gram Wallet reaches more users.

Project

What it is
The Open Network (TON): a sharded proof-of-stake Layer 1 designed by Nikolai and Pavel Durov for Telegram. Its token Toncoin was renamed Gram (GRAM) on 15 Jun 2026; balances did not change.
Team and Telegram
Since May 2026 Telegram itself drives development and runs the largest validator, replacing the TON Foundation. Telegram mini apps that use crypto settle on TON, and the new Gram Wallet becomes the default wallet in Telegram's settings.
Technology
Catchain 2.0 (live 10 Apr 2026) cut block time from ~2.5 s to ~0.4 s for sub-second finality; fees were then cut about 6× to ~$0.0005 per transfer.
Traction
Stablecoins ~$0.74B (mostly USDT) but DeFi TVL only ~$49M and chain fees ~$69k a month. Coin Bureau counts ~2.2M monthly active wallets and ~450 monthly developers (Sep 2026).
Competitors
Solana, Tron and Ethereum L2s for payments and stablecoins; inside Telegram, the custodial Wallet bot (now Walt) and centralised exchanges.
Key risks
Durov remains under French investigation (questioned a fourth time on 8 Jul 2026, no trial date) and faces a Russian case. Telegram as largest validator centralises control; holdings are concentrated; the Feb 2027 frozen-wallet release.
Roadmap
Durov's seven-step “Make TON Great Again” plan: speed, fee cut, Telegram validator and rename are done. Steps 5–7 are not yet announced; analysts guess payments and a Bitcoin bridge, unconfirmed.

Token performance

1-year return (21 Oct 2025 → 20 Oct 2026, CoinGecko)
GRAM
-40%
BTC
-25%
ETH
-38%

GRAM fell a little more than ETH and clearly more than BTC over 12 months. Over 3 years it is down roughly −35% (from ~$2.05 in Oct 2023, a hand estimate that could not be checked against a dated source) vs BTC ~+179% (from ~$29.7k) and ETH ~+53% (from ~$1.6k); 3-year figures are manual because the free CoinGecko API covers 365 days.

Range 2026
$1.22 low (28 Mar) to $2.72 high (8 May), daily closes; now $1.35
12-month drawdown
−52%, from $2.72 (8 May 2026) to $1.32 (17 Sep 2026)
Liquidity
$27.1M traded in 24h, 0.7% of market cap; rank #31
Flows
Telegram news spikes fade: +36% on 5 May, gone by June. TON Strategy holds ~230.5M GRAM (30 Jun).
ATH check ATH check passed. The $8.25 high (14 Jun 2024) came almost three years after trading began and is also the current-cycle high, so it is used as the reference; price is −84% below it.

Tokenomics

Supply
~5.27B GRAM total, no maximum. CoinGecko counts ~2.83B as circulating; frozen and locked wallets are excluded.
Inflation
Validator rewards are minted at ~0.6% a year by design (~32M GRAM, ≈ $43M at today's price). TON Strategy reports a ~17% gross staking yield after Catchain 2.0, so current issuance may be higher; not verified.
Unlocks
~1.08B GRAM (~21% of supply) in early-miner wallets that never moved was frozen by validator vote in Feb 2023 for 48 months, until 21 Feb 2027. CoinShares also flags a rolling ~37M GRAM every 30 days through Apr 2029.
Utility
Gas and storage fees, validator staking, payments inside Telegram (usernames, numbers, mini apps) and self-custody via Gram Wallet.
Concentration
Robinhood's asset statement says 20 addresses hold ~70% of supply. TON Strategy alone holds ~4.4% and ~35% of all staked GRAM; Telegram runs the largest validator.
Sinks
50% of fees burned (tiny in dollar terms), staking, and treasury companies such as TON Strategy (Nasdaq: TONX). No US spot ETF.

Bull case

Gram Wallet turns Telegram's billion users into on-chain payers, fees grow from ~$69k a month into the millions, and Telegram's remaining roadmap steps add payment demand. The frozen-wallet release is absorbed or re-locked, and price reclaims $1.80 (the May breakout level) on the way back to the $2.72 May high.

Bear case

Wallet adoption stays shallow, fees remain a rounding error next to issuance, and the 21 Feb 2027 release of ~1.08B GRAM adds sellers. A negative turn in Durov's French case hits sentiment; price loses the $1.22 March low.

Watch before the next re-run

  • Monthly chain fees vs validator issuance (DefiLlama)
  • Movement of the frozen early-miner wallets around 21 Feb 2027
  • Gram Wallet rollout reach and USDT supply on TON
  • $1.22 March low and the $2.72 May high; Durov case news

Where to trade

Krakenlisted

GRAM against EUR · USD · USDT · USDC

24h $557.3k · ±2% depth $585.0k

OKXlisted

GRAM against EUR · USDT · USDC · TRY

24h $3.06M · ±2% depth $670.3k

Largest exchanges

Exchange24h vol±2% depth
BinanceGRAM/USDT$7.03M$721.3k
BybitGRAM/USDT$5.47M$411.3k
GateGRAM/USDT$3.14M$795.2k
OKXGRAM/USDT$3.10M$700.0k
MEXCGRAM/USDT$975.2k$745.9k

Deepest DEX pools

Pool24h vol±2% depth
STON.fiGRAM/USDT · TON$187.3k$205.3k
STON.fi (V2)GRAM/USDT · TON$1.05M$199.9k
DeDustGRAM/USDT · TON$177.7k$22.0k

Pool size (TVL), fee tier and fee APR are not in yet: they need DefiLlama, which this setup cannot reach so far. CL = concentrated liquidity (higher fees, more impermanent-loss risk).

On-chain share of all GRAM volume: 4.7%.

As of 21 Oct 2026 · CoinGecko tickers (24h volume, ±2% depth). ±2% depth is the money it takes to move the price 2% either way: the real size of a market. Exchanges ranked by volume among well-known venues; pools by depth. Not investment advice.

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