Toncoin (TON) is the native cryptocurrency of The Open Network, a blockchain closely tied to Telegram. Thanks to the wallet built into the messenger, Mini Apps and USDT transfers right inside chats, it has become many people’s first encounter with crypto. In June 2026 the token was officially renamed: it is now called Gram (GRAM), while the TON name refers to the network itself.
The rebrand and the close link to Telegram raise plenty of questions: do you need to do anything with your coins after the rename, how is TON different from Ethereum and Solana, why do exchange deposits require a comment (memo), what do addresses starting with EQ and UQ mean, and how dependent is the project on Telegram? This Toncoin review answers them in plain language.
You will learn the project’s history from Telegram Open Network to Gram, how its sharded architecture works, how issuance and staking function, how address formats differ, the network’s pros and cons, who it suits, and how to buy and store the coins safely. This article is not investment advice and contains no price forecasts.
- What is Toncoin and the TON network
- History: from Telegram Open Network to the community
- The Toncoin to Gram (GRAM) rename
- How the TON network works
- Issuance, burning and staking
- Key specs: table
- EQ and UQ addresses, memo and fees
- Telegram integration and the ecosystem
- Pros, cons and risks
- Who Toncoin is for
- How to buy and store Toncoin (Gram)
- FAQ
- Conclusion
- Sources
What is Toncoin and the TON network
The Open Network (TON) is a Layer 1 smart-contract blockchain built for mass adoption: payments, tokens, NFTs, decentralized apps and services inside Telegram. The network’s architecture was originally designed by the Telegram team, and today it is developed by a community of developers with active involvement from the messenger itself.
Toncoin — known since June 2026 as Gram — is the network’s native asset. It pays fees for transactions and data storage, is staked by validators to secure the network, and is used by people for transfers and payments across the ecosystem. We use both names in this article because many services and users still call the coin Toncoin or TON out of habit.
TON’s defining feature is the combination of its own technical architecture with Telegram’s enormous audience. A wallet is available right inside the messenger, Mini Apps connect to the blockchain through the TON Connect protocol, and the USDT stablecoin runs natively on TON.
History: from Telegram Open Network to the community
The project was conceived by Telegram’s founders, Nikolai and Pavel Durov. The Telegram Open Network technical white paper, authored by Nikolai Durov, described a multi-level systеm of blockchains with virtually unlimited sharding. In 2018 Telegram ran a private sale of future tokens, then called Gram, and raised substantial funds from investors.
In October 2019 the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued, arguing that the Gram sale was an unregistered securities offering. A court blocked the token launch, and in May 2020 Telegram announced it was ending its involvement in the project; it later agreed to return funds to investors and pay a penalty.
Because the network’s code was open source, an independent developer community carried the work forward. The project became The Open Network, the coin became Toncoin, and the TON Foundation took on ecosystem development. Over time Telegram moved closer to the network again: native USDT arrived on TON in 2024, in January 2025 TON became the exclusive blockchain infrastructure for Telegram Mini Apps, and in May 2026 Pavel Durov announced that Telegram would rеplace the TON Foundation as the network’s main driving force and become its largest validator.
The Toncoin to Gram (GRAM) rename
In early June 2026 the TON community voted on restoring the token’s historical name. Around 81% of participating voting power backed the proposal, and on June 15, 2026 Toncoin was officially renamed Gram, with the ticker changing from TON to GRAM.
The key point for holders: the rebrand required no action. Balances, wallet addresses, smart contracts, NFTs and staking positions all stayed the same, and there was no swap, migration or claim. Major exchanges relabeled their markets automatically, showing the asset as “Gram (prev. Toncoin)” during the transition. The network’s name did not change — it is still The Open Network (TON).
Watch out for scammers: the rebrand spawned sites offering to “swap TON for GRAM” or “verify your wallet”. Any request to enter your seed phrase or send coins for this purpose is a scam, because the official transition happened automatically.
How the TON network works
TON uses Proof of Stake: validators lock up coins and take part in elections that determine the validator set for the next round. Consensus is reached with a Byzantine fault-tolerant protocol called Catchain. In April 2026 the Catchain 2.0 upgrade was activated on mainnet; according to its developers, it cut block times to a fraction of a second and brought transaction finality close to one second.
TON’s architecture is multi-layered. The main chain — the masterchain — stores network parameters and the validator list and records the state of all other chains. Below it sit workchains, and under heavy load each workchain can dynamically split into shardchains and merge back when load drops. This approach is known as the infinite sharding paradigm.
Smart contracts on TON follow the actor model: each contract is a separate actor that communicates with others via asynchronous messages. This enables scalability but makes the logic more complex than on Ethereum — a single operation can consist of a chain of messages processed across different blocks. Contracts run in the TVM virtual machine and are written in FunC, Tolk or Tact.
Issuance, burning and staking
Around 5 billion coins were issued initially, and supply has since grown through validator rewards. For a long time, net inflation was roughly 0.6% per year. After Catchain 2.0 made blocks faster, rewards began accruing more often, and in 2026 validators voted on cutting the per-block reward to keep inflation in check. It is best to check current parameters in block explorers and official documentation, as community decisions can change them.
Since June 2023 the network has burned 50% of all fees, a mechanism approved by a validator vote. In addition, in February 2023 the community voted to freeze, for 48 months, inactive early-miner wallets that had never made an outgoing transaction — a measure that affected a significant share of supply.
Becoming a TON validator is not easy: it requires a large minimum stake and reliable server infrastructure. Ordinary users therefore stake through nominator pools and liquid-staking services, which issue a receipt token for deposited coins. Returns and withdrawal terms depend on the solution you choose. The basics are covered in our guide on what staking is.
Key specs: table
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Network | The Open Network (TON) |
| Token | Gram (GRAM); Toncoin (TON) until June 15, 2026 |
| Architecture designed by | Nikolai and Pavel Durov (Telegram) |
| Consensus | Proof of Stake, Catchain BFT protocol |
| Architecture | Masterchain, workchains, dynamic shardchains |
| Initial supply | About 5 billion coins, then issuance to validators |
| Burning | 50% of fees (since June 2023) |
| Smallest unit | 1 nanoton = 0.000000001 coin |
| Address format | 48 characters, starts with EQ or UQ |
| Token standards | Jetton (fungible), TON NFT standard |
| Smart-contract languages | FunC, Tolk, Tact (TVM virtual machine) |
EQ and UQ addresses, memo and fees
A TON address in user-friendly format is a 48-character string. You will usually see two variants of the same address: EQ… (bounceable) and UQ… (non-bounceable). Both point to the same account and differ only by a flag: if something goes wrong, a transfer to a bounceable address can bounce back to the sender. For ordinary wallets and exchange deposits, the UQ format is now recommended. There is also a “raw” format like 0:…, used by developers.
When depositing to an exchange or certain services, you are often required to add a comment (memo) — a numeric or text identifier that tells the platform which customer to credit when coins arrive at a shared address. Forget the memo and your funds may not be credited automatically, forcing you to contact support. We cover this in detail in Memo, tag and Destination Tag explained.
Fees on TON consist of charges for computation, message forwarding and data storage. Storage fees are a network-specific feature: accounts gradually pay for the space they occupy on the blockchain, so it is wise to keep a small reserve of coins in your wallet. Sending jetton tokens, including USDT, also requires Gram for the fee. Overall, operations on TON are cheap, but exact amounts depend on transaction complexity and network parameters.
Telegram integration and the ecosystem
Telegram offers a built-in wallet that includes both a custodial part (the service holds the funds) and a separate self-custodial section. Independent non-custodial wallets are also popular, such as Tonkeeper — see our detailed Tonkeeper review. Telegram Mini Apps connect to wallets through the TON Connect protocol.
USDT on TON, launched in 2024, plays a major role in the ecosystem: the stablecoin can be sent to Telegram users quickly and with low fees. However, USDT on TON is a separate network version, incompatible with TRC-20 or ERC-20. Our guide to USDT networks explains how to choose the right one.
The ecosystem also includes decentralized exchanges, liquid-staking services, NFTs (including collectible Telegram usernames and numbers, as well as gifts), gaming Mini Apps, TON DNS for human-readable wallet names, and the decentralized TON Storage.
Pros, cons and risks
Advantages
- Access to Telegram’s audience. A wallet and Mini Apps inside the messenger make getting started with crypto easier.
- Scalable architecture. Dynamic sharding is designed to handle growing load.
- Fast, low-cost operations, especially since the Catchain 2.0 upgrade.
- Native USDT for convenient stablecoin transfers.
- Fee burning that partly offsets issuance.
Disadvantages
- Heavy dependence on Telegram. The company’s decisions and problems directly affect the network and market sentiment.
- Concentration. A high bar for validators and the role of large participants, including Telegram itself, raise decentralization questions.
- Complexity for developers. The asynchronous actor model differs from the familiar EVM.
- Confusion caused by the rebrand and by EQ/UQ addresses and memos.
Risks
Beyond volatility, consider the regulatory backdrop around Telegram: Pavel Durov’s detention in France in August 2024, for example, noticeably affected the market. The ecosystem also attracts a lot of fraud — fake “support” bots, bogus airdrops and Gram “migration” sites. Issuance parameters are changed by vote and can affect the token’s economics.
Who Toncoin is for
Toncoin (Gram) suits active Telegram users who want to pay, transfer funds and use Mini Apps without complicated setup; people who need fast USDT transfers; and those considering staking through pools who understand the risks involved.
Toncoin may not suit people whose top priority is a network fully independent of any single company; developers who need EVM compatibility; and anyone unwilling to pay close attention to address formats and memos when transferring. As with any volatile asset, do not buy it with money you cannot afford to lose.
How to buy and store Toncoin (Gram)
You can buy the coins on an exchange, through P2P, in Telegram’s built-in wallet, or by swapping another cryptocurrency. If you hold USDT or BTC, an instant exchanger is convenient: on RubyCash you can swap USDT to TON without registration and receive the coins straight to your own wallet. The reverse operation is covered in our guide on how to exchange TON to USDT.
- Choose a wallet. To control your funds, use a non-custodial wallet or the self-custodial section of the Telegram wallet.
- Back up your seed phrase offline. Never share it in chats, even with “admins” or “support”.
- Copy your address — it usually starts with UQ or EQ.
- Check whether a memo is required. When sending to an exchange, always inсlude the comment if the platform asks for it.
- Send a small test transfer.
- Keep a reserve of coins for fees and storage charges.
- Ignore “migrations” to GRAM and unknown jetton tokens you did not request.
Exchange USDT to TON
FAQ
Yes. On June 15, 2026, Toncoin was officially renamed Gram and the ticker changed from TON to GRAM. Balances and addresses stayed the same, and the network is still called The Open Network (TON).
No. The transition happened automatically, with no swap, migration or wallet verification. Any site or bot asking you to “swap TON for GRAM” or enter your seed phrase is a scam.
Yes, the network’s architecture was originally designed by the Telegram team. After the SEC lawsuit the company stepped away in 2020 and the community continued the project, but Telegram later moved closer again and in 2026 announced it would become the network’s largest validator.
They are two representations of the same address that differ by a bounce flag. EQ is the bounceable format, so funds can return to the sender if something fails. UQ is the non-bounceable format now recommended for ordinary wallets and exchange deposits.
Many exchanges use one shared deposit address and identify customers by the comment (memo). Without it, your coins may not be credited automatically. Always check whether the platform requires a memo before sending.
No. USDT on TON and USDT on TRON are different network versions with incompatible addresses. The sender and recipient must use the same network, otherwise funds may be lost.
Most users participate through nominator pools or liquid-staking services. These pool funds from many holders and distribute the rewards. Before choosing one, review the withdrawal terms, fees and smart-contract risks.
There is no hard cap: after the initial issuance of about 5 billion coins, supply grows through validator rewards. Part of the fees is burned, and reward parameters can be changed by community vote.
Conclusion
Toncoin, now Gram, holds a unique position in the market: it is tied to one of the world’s largest messengers, and the TON network offers a scalable architecture, fast transactions and convenient USDT transfers. The Catchain 2.0 upgrade and Telegram’s more active role show that the project keeps evolving quickly.
This model also has a flip side: heavy dependence on a single company, decentralization questions, network-specific addresses and memos, and plenty of fraud around high-profile events like the rebrand. Weigh these factors before you buy.
If you decide to use TON, keep your seed phrase offline, check the address format and memo, send test transfers and never trust “migrations” or “support” in private messages. That way you can enjoy the ecosystem’s advantages safely.