The GRAM cryptocurrency, based on the TON blockchain project, made its way into the top 10 global cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap, by the end of the previous year. Moreover, Pavel Durov, the blockchain's founder and the creator of VKontakte social network and Telegram messenger, had previously announced the launch of a cryptocurrency wallet within the messenger and several other tools as part of the payment system. Additionally, there was active discussion online about the introduction of a new cryptocurrency on TON, although the creator himself refrained from providing detailed information.
Pavel Durov shared in his blog, "The cryptocurrency wallet is already operational, unless it has not appeared under the 'my stories' section for you. Currently, it enables the purchase of Bitcoin, the USDT stablecoin, and Toncoin itself. However, for Russians, the option to buy and sell is limited to a peer-to-peer system, i.e., from user to user, or an international bank card will be required."
While the wallet and blockchain are relatively well understood, not everyone possesses a comprehensive understanding of the enigmatic GRAM cryptocurrency. This article aims to shed light on it.
How did the GRAM cryptocurrency come into existence?
Pavel Durov first disclosed his cryptocurrency project's launch in an interview with Bloomberg back in 2017, during a time when NFTs and cryptocurrencies were garnering significant attention.
The entrepreneur actively engaged in the development of his ambitious project, providing insights into its key aspects. It was known that his team was focused on creating a payment system and a new cryptocurrency, which was later named Gram. Consequently, Gram became one of the most widely discussed topics in the digital markets from 2018 to 2019.
Initially, Gram was introduced as an internal token of the platform rather than an independent cryptocurrency, which explains the absence of a distinct creation story. However, Gram gained prominence when Pavel Durov announced the launch of the cryptocurrency, along with the TON Telegram blockchain, which was intended to serve as its foundation.
The primary concept behind Gram was to establish a currency that would be easily accessible to a broad audience due to its integration with the messenger platform.
During discussions, there were suggestions that the idea of creating Gram emerged from a desire to monetize Telegram and promote the messenger's independence from major funds, advertisers, and governments. Introducing their own cryptocurrency was seen as a way to enhance the platform's capabilities and improve user safety.
Moreover, even before the airdrop, Russian designers and artisans decided to show their support for the new cryptocurrency by turning it into a physical coin. This coin was unique as it was made entirely of gold and had an unusual size. It featured the cryptocurrency's symbols and name, with a stylized binary code engraved on the background. Inscriptions of "Telegram token" and "5,000,000,000" were placed around the coin's perimeter, representing the intended quantity of coins to be issued by the creator.
The company's release stated that the coin, designated as "001," had a palm-sized diameter of 10 centimeters and was made with a 999° gold plating.
What Went Wrong?
In 2018, the company actively pursued its new cryptocurrency project, which was planned to be called Gram. Pavel Durov even managed to raise $1.7 billion in two rounds of investment by selling nearly 3 billion tokens. The company received funding from 171 investors worldwide, including venture capital funds Sequoia Capital, Benchmark, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, as well as billionaires Yuri Milner and Roman Abramovich, Qiwi founder Sergey Solonin, and other prominent entrepreneurs.
However, due to the widespread hype surrounding the fundraising through the issuance of a new cryptocurrency (ICO), Pavel Durov decided to abandon the public sale of tokens. Regular users could no longer become token holders.
According to preliminary estimates, the project's valuation at that time was over $5 billion. Everything was moving towards the official launch of Gram in November 2019, but it was hindered by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Initially, the SEC sought a court injunction to prevent the issuance of the cryptocurrency, and later influenced the final ban on transferring Gram to the hands of investors. The SEC argued that Telegram's coins essentially constituted securities, and therefore Pavel Durov's company was obligated to comply with all listing rules, including providing information about the company's business, financial position, and risks.
Pavel Durov's company insisted on recognizing Gram as a commodity rather than a security. However, the court was convinced otherwise: according to the lawsuit, Gram is neither a commodity nor a currency, and therefore cannot be sold to a large number of investors.
"The court thus supported the position of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It argued that the Telegram cryptocurrency essentially constituted securities, but Telegram did not disclose information about the company's financial condition, its business, management, and risks, as required by the US Securities Act of 1933. In October, the SEC obtained a temporary restraining order on the issuance of the Gram cryptocurrency," Forbes reported.
At the same time, legal proceedings began for Telegram Messenger Inc. The company filed a lawsuit against the American startup Lantah LLC, which planned to release its own cryptocurrency called Gram and had already registered the trademark rights. However, Pavel Durov's cryptocurrency project was shut down, and the legal proceedings with the American startup over the trademark lost their purpose. In the summer of 2020, it became known that Telegram Messenger Inc. would have to cover the legal costs.
Pavel Durov Abandoned the Idea and Left the Cryptocurrency Project
Referring back to the topic of the court's injunction on the issuance of the cryptocurrency, it should be noted that the TON blockchain failed due to conflicts with US regulators, who forced Pavel Durov's company to return investments totaling over $1 billion.
"Unfortunately, the US court suspended the launch of TON. How? Imagine that a few people pooled their money to build a gold mine, and then divided the gold that... comes out of it. Then a judge comes and says, 'These people invested money in a gold mine because they were seeking profit. And they didn't want this gold for themselves; they wanted to sell it to other people. Because of this, they can't get the gold.'"
If this seems senseless to you, you're not alone — but that's exactly what happened with TON (the mine) and Gram (the gold). The judge used this argument to decide that people should not be allowed to acquire or sell Gram in the same way they can buy or sell Bitcoins," Pavel Durov commented in the publication "Code Durov."
The entrepreneur also noted that the court prohibited the new cryptocurrency from being distributed not only within the United States but worldwide. Moreover, he announced "the end of Telegram's active participation in TON."
Furthermore, not all investors withdrew their investments; some of them left their funds as loans. For example, Qiwi founder Sergey Solonin said, "If Telegram doesn't make any profit, it doesn't mean it's worthless. Durov has the opportunity to build a global ecosystem around Telegram — this project is not even halfway through," shared one of the investors.
What Is Currently Known About Gram?
After the founder left the project, the group of developers did not abandon it and continued to work on it. In 2024, the coin once again made headlines and caught the attention of investors.
However, there are currently several coins from different representatives trading under the ticker symbol Gram. In February, BeinCrypto published its own research on the connection between Gram and the TON blockchain, and therefore Telegram.
For instance, the publication was able to establish that a cryptocurrency called Gramm exists in several projects, such as the game Norma in Metaland, and information about the coin is periodically published on the social network The Daily TON.
As for the latter, the official TON blog often mentions news from the publication in its posts. Despite this, there is still no reliable information about the involvement of the cryptocurrency created by Pavel Durov in any of the mentioned projects.
Source: Mention of The Daily TON in the TON Telegram channel/beincrypto.com
The publication, citing interlocutors, does not currently recommend considering Gram as an investment or simply a purchase. According to investors, this could be extremely risky.
