Gram (prev. Toncoin) gram
What is Gram (prev. Toncoin)?
The Open Network (TON), originally called the Telegram Open Network, is an open-source, proof-of-stake Layer-1 blockchain and broader decentralized-network ecosystem. Its native coin is Gram (also commonly branded Toncoin/TON), used for transaction fees, validator stakes, governance participation, and transfers. TON was designed by Telegram's technical community and is now developed by an open-source community rather than controlled by Telegram or a single company. Its architecture combines a masterchain with workchains and dynamically split shardchains, while its smart-contract execution uses the TON Virtual Machine (TVM). TON's defining distribution strategy is deep integration with Telegram: wallets, TON Connect, mini-apps, tokenized usernames and numbers, collectible gifts, Telegram Stars, Premium-related payments, giveaways, and advertising payouts can connect users to TON-based assets and applications.
What problem does Gram (prev. Toncoin) solve?
TON targets the usability, reach, and scalability barriers that have limited mainstream blockchain adoption. It aims to make digital assets and decentralized applications accessible through interfaces people already use, especially Telegram, rather than requiring a separate specialist crypto workflow. It also addresses the throughput and latency limits of conventional single-chain designs: a single globally ordered chain can become a bottleneck as accounts, applications, and message volume grow. TON's actor/message model, parallel processing, dynamic sharding, tightly coupled masterchain, and cross-shard routing are intended to support very large user and application populations while preserving composability across the network. This is an engineering goal, not a guarantee that every workload will achieve the project's maximum advertised throughput or that Telegram adoption eliminates wallet, regulatory, security, or decentralization trade-offs.
How does Gram (prev. Toncoin) work?
TON uses a proof-of-stake validator set. Validators stake Gram, participate in Byzantine-fault-tolerant block consensus, and can be penalized for signing invalid blocks. The blockchain is a hierarchy: one masterchain records protocol state, validator information, workchains, shard state, and recent shard block hashes; workchains provide potentially different transaction, address, virtual-machine, and currency rules; and each workchain is divided into shardchains responsible for subsets of accounts. Shards can split automatically when sustained load rises and merge when load falls. TON models accounts and contracts as actors that communicate by asynchronous messages, allowing operations in independent shards to proceed in parallel. Instant Hypercube Routing is designed to deliver cross-shard messages efficiently, while masterchain references tightly couple shard histories. Smart contracts execute in the stack-based TON Virtual Machine, whose cell-based data model supports cryptographic operations, Merkle proofs, and zero-knowledge-related primitives. In Telegram, developers build bots or web Mini-Apps and connect them to TON wallets through TON Connect; TON-based NFTs can represent Telegram gifts, and TON blockchain accounts can underpin collectible usernames and phone-number-independent Telegram identities. Gram is used for fees and staking, while other TON tokens such as jettons can represent application assets and stablecoins.
Key facts
- Name: The Open Network (TON); the earlier expansion was Telegram Open Network
- Native coin: Gram (also widely referred to as Toncoin or TON); used for transaction fees, validator stakes, transfers, and governance-related participation
- Consensus: Proof of Stake with validator committees and Byzantine-fault-tolerant consensus; validators stake TON and may be penalized for invalid behavior
- Architecture: One masterchain, potentially many workchains, and dynamically split/merged shardchains; the whitepaper describes up to 2^32 workchains and up to 2^60 shards per workchain as protocol design limits
- Scalability model: Infinite Sharding Paradigm, actor/message-based asynchronous execution, parallel processing, and Instant Hypercube Routing for cross-shard messages
- Execution: TON Virtual Machine (TVM), a custom stack-based VM using a cell-oriented data representation and support for modern cryptographic primitives
- Telegram integration: TON Connect links Mini-Apps/bots to TON wallets; Telegram ecosystem use cases include TON NFTs for gifts, blockchain usernames, collectible numbers, Stars and Premium-related payments, giveaways, and Gram advertising payouts
- Foundation: The Open Network Foundation says it was established in Switzerland in 2023 as a non-profit funded by community contributions; it supports TON initiatives but does not control TON technology
- Open-source governance: TON Foundation describes TON as an open-source codebase with no single controlling authority and the Foundation as one of many network contributors
- Performance target: TON's official site describes approximately 0.4-second block time, approximately 0.6-second time to finality, dynamic sharding, and a 100K+ TPS public test; these are official project claims and should not be treated as universal production guarantees
- Telegram reach: TON's official site positions the integration as reaching Telegram's 1B+ active users; actual access still depends on jurisdiction, wallet availability, application design, and user adoption
- History note: The TON whitepaper is authored by Nikolai Durov and TON Core and dated July 26, 2021; it describes the protocol design and goals, not a guarantee of every current implementation detail
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Frequently asked questions
What is TON?
TON is an open-source proof-of-stake Layer-1 blockchain and decentralized-network ecosystem. It combines a masterchain, workchains, dynamically sharded account state, asynchronous smart-contract messaging, and a Telegram-integrated application and wallet ecosystem. Gram, also commonly called Toncoin or TON, is its native coin.
How is TON connected to Telegram?
TON is integrated into Telegram's ecosystem through TON Connect, which lets Mini-Apps and bots connect to TON wallets. Telegram-related TON use cases include tokenized gifts, blockchain usernames, collectible numbers, Stars and Premium-related payments, giveaways, and advertising payouts in Gram. Telegram is an important distribution channel, but TON is an open-source network rather than a blockchain controlled by Telegram.
What is TON Connect?
TON Connect is the wallet-connection protocol used by TON applications. A user can connect a TON wallet to a compatible Telegram Mini-App or other decentralized application, review a requested action, and approve a transaction or sign-in flow without giving the application custody of the wallet's private keys.
How does TON scale?
TON scales horizontally through workchains and dynamically split/merged shardchains. Its actor model treats accounts and smart contracts as message-processing actors, allowing independent operations to run in parallel. The masterchain coordinates global state and validator information, and Instant Hypercube Routing is designed to move messages across shards efficiently.
What is the TON masterchain?
The masterchain is TON's coordination blockchain. It stores protocol configuration, validator sets and stakes, active workchains and shards, and hashes of recent blocks from other chains. By incorporating shard block hashes, it tightly couples shard histories and helps other shards determine which state is canonical.
What is Gram used for?
Gram is TON's native coin. It is used to pay network and smart-contract fees, transfer value, provide validator stakes, and participate in network governance or protocol operations where applicable. TON also supports other token types, including jettons and NFTs, which are separate application assets.
Who controls TON Foundation and TON?
The Open Network Foundation says it is a Swiss non-profit established in 2023 and funded by community contributions. It supports initiatives, grants, and ecosystem development, but says it does not control TON technology. TON's codebase is open source and the Foundation is one of many contributors; this does not mean every implementation, validator, wallet, or application is equally decentralized.
Does TON really process millions of transactions per second?
TON's whitepaper states a design goal of handling millions of transactions per second if necessary, and the current TON website cites a 100K+ TPS public test. These figures describe project goals or particular benchmark conditions, not a blanket guarantee for every production workload.
Is TON proof of work or proof of stake?
TON's current consensus is proof of stake: validators lock Gram as stake and participate in consensus. The official TON site notes that Gram was initially distributed through proof-of-work mining, but mining was not the ongoing block-consensus mechanism.
What is TVM?
TVM, or TON Virtual Machine, is the virtual machine that executes TON smart contracts. It is a custom stack machine with a cell-based data model and support for features such as hashmaps, cryptographic primitives, Merkle proofs, and zero-knowledge-related operations.
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