Telegram has officially abandoned its TON blockchain and Gram cryptocurrency project after a prolonged legal fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Founder and CEO Pavel Durov said the decisive factor was a U.S. court ruling that prevented Gram tokens from being distributed not only to investors in the United States, but anywhere in the world.
A Court Ruling With Global Consequences
In his announcement, Durov described the decision as a painful one for Telegram. He said the court concluded that even if TON were launched outside the U.S., there was still a possibility that American citizens could gain access to the network. Based on that reasoning, the court determined that Gram should not be distributed globally. Telegram therefore decided to discontinue its active participation in the project, though Durov indicated that the situation could theoretically change in the future.
The ruling marked the culmination of a long-running conflict between Telegram and the SEC. The regulator had argued that Gram tokens were unregistered securities and that their sale violated U.S. securities law. Once the court backed that position, Telegram’s path forward for TON became effectively blocked.
TON Was Positioned as a Next-Generation Blockchain
Durov said Telegram’s team had spent roughly two and a half years building TON, a blockchain platform intended to carry forward the decentralization ideals pioneered by Bitcoin and Ethereum while improving significantly on both speed and scalability. The project was pitched as a more efficient and higher-performance network capable of supporting transaction volumes beyond what existing major blockchains could handle.
According to Durov and court-referenced materials, Telegram believed current blockchain systems such as Bitcoin and Ethereum were not yet able to replace high-volume payment mechanisms like credit cards or fiat-based transaction rails. TON was presented as an attempt to bridge that gap with a technically stronger infrastructure and a native digital asset, Gram.
$1.7 Billion Raise Met With Regulatory Resistance
The scale of the project was reflected in its fundraising. In 2018, TON raised about $1.7 billion from investors through an initial coin offering. That made it one of the most prominent token fundraising efforts of its time. However, the SEC intervened in October 2019, halting the token sale on the grounds that Gram constituted an unregistered securities offering.
The legal pressure intensified in March 2020, when a U.S. judge affirmed the SEC’s position and ruled that Gram could not be distributed in the U.S. or globally. Following that ruling, Telegram proposed two repayment options to investors. According to the report, U.S. investors were limited to taking a 72% refund, underscoring the financial consequences of the regulatory crackdown.
Durov Criticizes Dependence on U.S. Financial and Tech Systems
Durov’s statement also carried a broader message about the influence of the United States over global finance and technology. He said the court was correct in one respect: the world remains deeply dependent on the U.S. in these areas. His remarks suggested that even projects built for global users and grounded in decentralized ideals can still be constrained by the reach of American legal and regulatory systems.
This theme has resonated widely in the crypto sector, where developers often argue that decentralized technologies should operate across borders. The TON case, however, showed how difficult that vision can be to realize when token issuance intersects with securities law and cross-border enforcement concerns.
Warning Against Unofficial TON and Gram Projects
Alongside the shutdown announcement, Durov issued a direct warning to the public. He said some websites and projects may try to use his name, the Telegram brand, TON, or Gram to promote unrelated ventures. He urged people not to trust such operations with either their money or personal data.
Durov stressed that neither he nor anyone on his team was involved in those efforts. He also noted that while networks based on the technology built for TON might appear in the future, Telegram would have no affiliation with them and would be unlikely to support them in any way. The warning was clearly aimed at preventing confusion and protecting users from misleading branding or opportunistic schemes following the project’s collapse.
A Symbolic Blow to One of Crypto’s Biggest Ambitions
The end of TON represented more than just the cancellation of a single blockchain launch. It was also a major setback for one of the most ambitious attempts by a mainstream technology platform to enter the crypto space at scale. Telegram’s global user base, brand recognition, and fundraising power had made TON a closely watched initiative across both the blockchain industry and traditional tech circles.
Its shutdown highlighted the central tension that continues to define much of the crypto market: innovation can move quickly, but regulation can still determine whether a project reaches users at all. In TON’s case, the legal challenge did not merely limit U.S. access—it eliminated the project’s ability to distribute its token worldwide.
In closing, Durov expressed support for those continuing to pursue decentralization, balance, and equality. He framed the struggle around TON as part of a much larger battle over the future of open technologies. For many in crypto, the project’s failure became a cautionary example of how even well-funded, technically ambitious platforms can be derailed when regulators and courts conclude that token distribution crosses into securities territory.