MTONGA: Buy a Gram - Telegram Notes

MTONGA: Buy a Gram and Support Telegram

When Pavel Durov rolled out the acronym MTONGA, I thought he was referring to the 1947 tune ""Bongo, Bongo, Bongo (I Don't Want to Leave the Congo)." I was incorrect. MTONGA is not a nod to Danny Kaye and The Andrews Sisters. Durov meant "Make TON Great Again."

So how does one do that after the precipitous value drop of the TONcoin crypto? Easy, just pull from the ashes the original name of Telegram's crypto currency: Gram.

Believe it or not, this is the fourth big change Durov has made since April 2026. If you don't recall the first three, let me summarize these for you:

An upgrade to block performance and an upgrade to the Catchain consensus protocol.
Chopping trasnaction fees. Price cutting can be a useful tactic to lure customers.
Durov took network governance from the TON Foundation and took direct control of crypto, its technology, and its future (for now).

With the renaming of TONcoin to GRAM, it is clear that Telegram is essentially a one-man band.

The leadership of AlphaTON Compute NASDAQ:ATON read their messages and changed the name of the company to Alpha Compute NASDAQ:ALP. The folks at TON Strategy Co. missed the email and remain TON Strategy Company NASDAQ:TONX.

MTONGA could be a hit – well, maybe a single – unlike "Bongo, Bongo, Bongo." Durov's four moves may be of interest to the US Securities & Exchange Commission. Several years ago, the SEC dinged Durov and Telegram for raising money without following established SEC procedures. Then Durov registered the TON Foundation in Switzerland to handle the TONcoin (originally named GRAM) and oversee the blockchain technology. The Swiss regulators could look at the original paperwork for bringing the TON Foundation into existence in Zug, Switzerland. But the Foundation now is different: No crypto, no block technology, and no control over the direction of the organization itself. Also, I think the French judiciary could pay attention to these moves because Durov's trial on about a dozen serious online crimes is approaching and current information is part of the French authorities' procedures.

Wait. I hear this lyric from that Broadway musical "Angel in the Wings":

Bongo, bongo, bongo, bongo, I don't wanna leave the Congo, oh, no, no, no, no, no Bingo, bangle, bungle, I'm so happy in the jungle,

The operative word is, in my opinion, "bungle."

Four questions that arose when I reviewed my notes for "The Telegram Labyrinth," a monograph for US law enforcement, cyber fraud investigators, and intelligence professionals. (Telegram is a go-to app for some in Ukraine, for example.) These are:

What happens if Durov is hit with a hefty fine and sentenced to prison?
Will the bongo bongo MTONGA steps reverse the downward slope of the TONcoin, sorry, GRAM, value?
What's the outlook for the investors who pumped cypto or fiat currency into ATON (not the Russian financial outfit) TONX? Some of these entities may be unhappy with a sure win that has, so far, turned out to be somewhat disappointing? Will they sue? Will they take other actions?
What will the SEC and the Swiss regulators do?

I assume that Durov's next three MTONGA actions will help answer these questions. In the mean time, it is: "Bingo, bangle, bungle."

Stephen E Arnold, June 3, 2026