This spring, GRAM is making big waves within the Telegram ecosystem. Instant transactions, a price rise of 2,800 times since launch, and the ability to mine on video cards are some of the unique features of this token built upon the TON blockchain. Though it borrows certain security and decentralization ideas from bitcoin (BTC), this project improves upon bitcoin in several ways, most notably the speed and scalability of its transactions. With its potential to redefine the norms of digital currency, GRAM is poised to become a game-changer in the world of cryptocurrency. In this overview, we explore GRAM’s features, its potential in the industry, and the question of whether it could be the next bitcoin, given its full decentralization and absence of ownership.

GRAM: Origins, Launch and Tokenomics

GRAM is the brainchild of The Open Network (TON), a blockchain project originally initiated by the founders of Telegram, one of the world’s most popular messaging apps. The project aimed to create a decentralized, fast, and scalable blockchain platform for secure global transactions. After facing regulatory challenges, Pavel Durov’s team had to abandon further development of this innovative project.

GRAM was launched on January 30, 2024, by a community of dedicated developers who took charge of its ongoing development. Initially introduced as an experiment, it quickly garnered several thousand members within the first week. Currently, there are over 30,000 GRAM holders, and the token has emerged as the most popular and rapidly growing cryptocurrency within the TON ecosystem. Since its inception, the price of GRAM has surged by an impressive 2,800 times, climbing from $0.00000107 to $0.03 by the end of March.

GRAM’s tokenomics is designed to promote both scarcity and utility — two critical factors that have significantly contributed to its price growth since launch. With a limited supply cap and a unique distribution model that rewards early adopters and contributors to the network, GRAM has seen an astonishing surge in value. This price growth is not merely speculative but is underpinned by real-world utility within the TON ecosystem, where GRAM offers unprecedented mining opportunities and has the potential for a wide range of applications: from microtransactions and bulk transfers to integration into DApps that require high bandwidth.

GRAM’s Security: the Principles of Decentralization and Distribution

GRAM distinguishes itself through its unwavering commitment to decentralization and fair distribution, principles deeply valued by the crypto community. GRAM’s distribution strategy prioritizes preventing wealth concentration, ensuring a more equitable ecosystem that aligns with the core principles of cryptocurrency.

Powered by the TON blockchain, GRAM empowers users with complete control over their funds, free from the influence of centralized authorities. Unlike reserved token allocations commonly found in other projects, GRAM’s launch did not reserve any tokens, fostering a fair and transparent distribution process akin to Bitcoin’s mining origins.

The TON blockchain, the backbone of GRAM, has undergone rigorous audits and hackathons, affirming its reliability and robustness against potential attacks. This level of security is on par with the time-tested resilience of the Bitcoin blockchain.

Why GRAM is Being Compared to BTC

The GRAM community often refers to the coin as a Bitcoin analog within the Telegram ecosystem, and occasionally as a potential new Bitcoin in the cryptocurrency market.

BTC and GRAM share several similarities:

• No pre-mine: Both cryptocurrencies, BTC and GRAM, were not pre-mined upon their launch.
• No reserved coins for creators: The creators of BTC and GRAM did not allocate any coins for themselves prior to the commencement of mining.
• No private funding rounds: Neither BTC nor GRAM conducted private funding rounds that could potentially lead to price manipulation by large investors.
• Blockchain operation: BTC operates on its own blockchain network, while GRAM utilizes the TON blockchain.
• Fast and affordable transfers: Both BTC and GRAM are designed to facilitate quick and cost-effective money transfers, accommodating transactions of various sizes.

But GRAM also has advantages over BTC. GRAM and BTC differ in transaction speed, with GRAM being faster and more scalable than Bitcoin. TON’s unique architecture allows for unlimited transactions per second, setting a world record of 104,715 transactions per second in November 2023. This allows for instantaneous transfers without compromising security or decentralization. Unlike BTC, which can experience backlogs and high fees during peak demand due to technical limitations, GRAM consistently offers users low fees and instant transaction execution, irrespective of the network load.

GRAM mining offers a more accessible and decentralized community, as it allows individuals to participate with modest hardware requirements, resembling the early days of Bitcoin mining. Both GRAM and BTC prioritize decentralization and security, but they use different mechanisms. Bitcoin relies on Proof-of-Work (PoW), which has led to centralization concerns due to large mining pools. GRAM uses PoW-givers to maintain high security while fostering a more distributed network.

Bitcoin has undoubtedly held its position as the most coveted cryptocurrency throughout history. However, the user adoption potential of GRAM is truly remarkable, given that Telegram boasts a user base of 800 million individuals. To put this into perspective, the total user base of the entire cryptocurrency market as of December 2023 was 575 million. The vastness of this target audience presents an immense opportunity for GRAM to captivate and engage users on an unprecedented scale. This represents a significant milestone in mass adoption and a major breakthrough for cryptocurrencies as a whole.

GRAM’s Mining Features

GRAM issuance is limited to 5,000,000,000 tokens. Approximately 1,750,000,000 GRAMs have already been mined. Given the current coin mining rate, GRAM mining will be completed in about 700 days — in early January 2026. As new tokens are mined, the complexity of the network increases, raising the cost of mining and indirectly supporting the price of the coin.

GRAM mining introduces an innovative approach to blockchain participation through the concept of Proof-of-Work (PoW) givers, making it accessible to a broader range of participants. PoW-givers are smart contracts within the TON ecosystem that distribute GRAM tokens as rewards for solving computational problems. This method democratizes the mining process, making it more inclusive and environmentally friendly compared to traditional mining methods.

To mine GRAM, one needs a computer, video cards with CUDA or OpenCL drivers, special software from Github, accounts in MyTonWallet or TonKeeper wallets, and some TON coins. In addition to GPU solo mining, GRAM can be mined through pools — PoolGramcoin and Ton.Ninja. The mining commission is paid in TON, so an increase in TON value corresponds to an increase in the GRAM token.

PoW-Givers Concept and Mining Process

In the GRAM ecosystem, givers play a crucial role as special smart contracts that encompass computational tasks. Miners are incentivized by receiving rewards for successfully completing these tasks. This mechanism draws parallels to the Bitcoin network, where miners are rewarded for their efforts. However, in the case of GRAM, the advantage lies in the absence of costly ASICs, making it a more accessible and inclusive system for participants.

GRAM has four types of givers, varying in size, with the 5 billion issuance distributed between large (up to 100,000), medium (up to 10,000), small (up to 1,000), and nano (up to 100). Only 30% of GRAM issuance was contained in these givers, with 70% of them being nanogivers. In mid-February, users mined all TONs contained in large and medium givers, leaving only small and nano givers available. By March, small givers were exhausted as well, making the one-time reward for mining no longer exceed 100 GRAM.

To set up a GPU miner to mine GRAM, download the mining software from the Github repository, unzip it, create a new account to receive mined coins in MyTonWallet or TonKeeper wallet, and activate it. Send a transaction for 0.1 TON to the new account, create a config.txt file with mnemonics from the new account in MyTonWallet or TonKeeper, install Node.Js, and run the miner. After launching, you can select the type of giver to mine on.

Mining Through Pools and Exchanging GRAMs

GRAM mining can be profitable through pools, as it requires sending a transaction to the miner with a TON solution and transaction fee, and a reward of 100 GRAM. To determine the profitability, miners should compare solo mining with transaction fees in TON coins or through a pool without TON coins but with a 50% commission. The current TON rate is $5, the current GRAM rate is $0.03, and the reward to the miner is 100 GRAM. Expenses for transaction fees in PoW giver and PoW giver are $0.195 and $0.01635, respectively. The difficulty of mining GRAM has increased due to the influx of new miners, and not every transaction is successful.

GRAM can be easily exchanged through various platforms. Users have the option to buy or sell GRAM using the CryptoBot on Telegram, STON.fi, the DEX aggregator Ton.Diamonds, DEX DeDust, and MyTonWallet. Additionally, as rumors of upcoming listings echo through the project’s Telegram channel, the GRAM community’s anticipation for its expansion to premier exchanges is growing. The keen eyes within the community have spotted hefty GRAM transactions, where over a million tokens have been moved to designated wallets on the MEXC and OKX exchanges.

Potential for GRAM Integration with the Telegram Messenger

With Telegram’s user base which is growing by about 80 million people every month, the potential integration of GRAM within the platform could revolutionize the way people perceive and use cryptocurrencies daily. It can enable seamless transactions for services, peer-to-peer payments, and e-commerce, all within the chat interface.

Telegram’s encryption and privacy-focused features promise to make GRAM transactions secure and user-friendly. This integration could lower the barrier to cryptocurrency adoption, as the complexity of crypto wallets and exchanges may deter users. If GRAM becomes as easy to use as sending a message on Telegram, mass adoption could occur, benefiting existing cryptocurrency enthusiasts and bringing millions of new users into the fold. The future looks bright for GRAM, with exponential market growth fueled by its integration into one of the world’s fastest-growing messaging platforms.

Final Thoughts: Why GRAM is a Step Forward in Digital Currency Evolution

GRAM is set to become a cornerstone in the next wave of digital currency evolution. Its affordable mining combined with total decentralization and integration with Telegram offers a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between complex digital finance systems and everyday communication. GRAM builds upon BTC’s foundation with significant advancements in speed, accessibility, and integration potential. It aims to make digital currency a part of daily lives through seamless integration with Telegram and user-friendly mining processes.

To learn more about GRAM and its ecosystem, please visit their social media channels: Telegram, Twitter, Gram Community.