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Telegram announces it will take over TON; the token has fallen about 41% over the past year

On May 4, 2026, Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced on X that Telegram will replace TON Foundation as the main driving force behind The Open Network and become its largest validator; he also said network fees have fallen about 6x to nearly zero, and that a new website, developer tools and performance upgrades are expected to launch within 2-3 weeks. After the消息 was released, the native token price rose about 30% in the short term.

As of the verification on October 25, 2026, the token, now also called Gram and formerly called Toncoin, was trading at about $1.24, down about 41%-42% over the past year and about 13% over the past month. DefiLlama showed that TON DeFi total value locked (TVL) was about $46 million. Around July 2024, TVL had reached a historical high of about $740 million to $773 million, after which it fell sharply, down more than $700 million from the peak. Stablecoin market capitalization is currently about $631 million.

BSCN wrote on October 24, 2026, that Durov's takeover of TON had failed, that metrics had continued to deteriorate since May, and noted that TVL had fallen more than $700 million from the 2024 peak, the token was down 41% over the year, and was down 13% in the past month. This statement is a third-party comment; the core announcement and the price and TVL data can be independently verified.

Original sources:

  1. Title: Fees in TON have dropped 6× — to nearly zero. Next step — Telegram replaces the TON Foundation as the driving force behind TON and becomes its largest validator. The focus shifts to tech superiority. New [link], new dev tools, new performance upgrades. Timeline: 2-3 weeks. Publisher: Pavel Durov (@durov) Publication date: 2026-05-04 URL: https://x.com/durov/status/2051315383466897663 Source nature: firsthand post Verification status: full text actually read in this case; verification date 2026-10-25 Supporting content: direct statement that Telegram will replace TON Foundation as the main driving force and largest validator, fees have fallen about 6x, and the 2-3 week upgrade plan

  2. Title: TON - DeFi TVL, Fees, & Revenue Publisher: DefiLlama Publication date: continuously updated (page shows as of Oct 25, 2026) URL: https://defillama.com/chain/ton Source nature: research or data Verification status: current TVL, stablecoin and other metrics actually read in this case; verification date 2026-10-25 Supporting content: current DeFi TVL of about $46 million and stablecoin market capitalization of about $631 million

  3. Title: 2024 wrapped: TON’s year of unstoppable growth Publisher: TON (ton.org) Publication date: 2024-12-31 URL: https://ton.org/en/2024-year-recap Source nature: official document/announcement Verification status: relevant TVL passage read in this case; verification date 2026-10-25 Supporting content: historical TVL high of about $773 million in July 2024 (does not prove later trend or current status)

  4. Title: Pavel Durov's takeover of $TON has failed...? Publisher: BSCN (@BSCNews) Publication date: 2026-10-24 URL: https://x.com/BSCNews/status/2114100367516459119 Source nature: media report/firsthand post (third-party comment) Verification status: full text actually read in this case; verification date 2026-10-25 Supporting content: third-party comment on the "failed takeover," deteriorating metrics and specific declines (price and TVL figures can be cross-checked against other sources)

ABAB AI Insight

Based on the verified facts, Durov's statement in May 2026 clearly positioned Telegram as TON's main driving force and largest validator, accompanied by a sharp reduction in fees. This marked a stage transition from the earlier community/foundation-led phase. The price rose in the short term after the announcement, but as of about five months later, the one-year and one-month performance remained negative, and the current price is significantly below the 2024 high.

The sharp decline in TVL from the mid-2024 peak occurred mainly before the takeover announcement. The current level of about $46 million shows that DeFi locked value remains limited, and the conversion from Telegram's huge user base remains an variable to watch. Price and TVL declines themselves do not automatically prove that the takeover has "failed" or succeeded; the announcement was a statement about governance and validator roles, while follow-up execution details (such as actual changes in validator weight and the effect of the developer tools launch) have not formed a complete verifiable follow-up in the materials read.

Stablecoin market capitalization remains in the hundreds of millions of dollars, which may reflect that payment and application-layer activity follow a different path from pure DeFi TVL. The available materials support the observation that prices and TVL did not continue to expand after the announcement, but they are insufficient to establish a definitive causal link that the takeover led to a specific outcome, and they also lack independently audited data on validator concentration or user activity conversion.

ABAB News · Laws of Cognition

  1. A statement about governance roles and a short-term price reaction can occur at the same time, and does not necessarily follow with later growth in locked value or price.

  2. The gap between the historical high and the current TVL level must distinguish the time when the peak formed from the later stage transition.

  3. The scale of the user base does not necessarily correspond to the ratio of conversion into on-chain DeFi locked value in the disclosed data.