MTONGA Full Breakdown: Durov's 7 Steps to Make TON Great Again

Make TON Great Again is a seven-step program Pavel Durov launched in spring 2026. As of June 1, four steps are live — the remaining three are undisclosed. In two months, MTONGA has: made the network 10× faster, dropped fees 6×, restored Telegram as the lead driver, and reverted Toncoin’s name to Gram.

This article is the full technical and strategic breakdown of each step: what was actually shipped, what it means, and where TON is going in 2026.

TL;DR — 7 steps in one table

Step 1: Catchain 2.0 — sub-second finality

When: April 10, 2026. What: a rewritten TON consensus algorithm.

Catchain is the BFT consensus that determines the order in which validators sign blocks. Version 1.0 (since 2020) gave a block time of ~2.5 seconds — decent for a blockchain, but inadequate for real-time messenger scenarios.

Catchain 2.0 delivered:

• Block time 2.5s → 400ms (6× block-rate increase)
• Transaction finality drops to sub-second (previously needed 1–2 confirmation blocks)
• Latency reduced 90%+ for high-frequency scenarios

What it means in practice:

• Mini Apps in Telegram can now show payments as “instant” (previously a 5–10 second spinner)
• Micropayments become practical — paying $0.01 for a sticker no longer means waiting 5 seconds
• Trading: market makers gain from lower latency, improving TON DEX liquidity

For the technical detail, see our piece on how sharding works in TON (Catchain is covered there in depth).

Step 2: 6× fee reduction

When: May 1, 2026. What: a new fee model with a fixed base component.

Before May 1, TON fees were dynamic — load-dependent, transaction-type-dependent, storage-dependent. Average fee: about $0.003 for a basic transfer.

After May 1:

• Base fee — fixed at 0.00039 TON (~$0.0005 at current prices)
• Storage gas — paid separately, but trivially small
• Under high load — fee does NOT increase (previously did)

Why this matters:

• Micropayments are now viable. With a $0.0005 fee, $0.01–$0.10 payments make sense — previously fees would eat 30%+ of the amount.
• In-app payments in Telegram — ads, stickers, tips, paywalls — become economically sane.
• Attracting high-frequency apps — gaming, social tipping, NFT mints.

What didn’t change:

• Validator commission rates — same
• Denomination in TON (now GRAM) — same
• Burn mechanism (part of fees gets burned) — still active

Step 3: Telegram becomes the top validator

When: May 4, 2026. What: Telegram launches a validator node large enough to make it the network’s biggest stake-holder.

Durov wrote:

“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.”

This is more than running a node. It’s an operating-model shift:

Before May 4:

• TON Foundation (a non-profit in Switzerland/UAE) — primary coordinator
• ~20% of validator stake held by the Foundation
• Foundation funded development, grants, marketing
• Telegram kept formal distance

After May 4:

• Telegram launched a validator with multi-billion stake (exact figures undisclosed, but per various estimates — the largest in the network)
• Telegram took operational lead: development, marketing, releases
• TON Foundation remains as a grants/community fund but is no longer the face of the product
• A new ton.org site launched with refreshed design

Market reaction:

• TON +23% within 24 hours of the announcement
• Volume +324% over the same window
• Futures open interest +50%

For a deeper analysis of what this means for decentralization, see our piece Telegram takes over TON: the centralization tradeoff.

Step 4: Toncoin → Gram

When: June 1, 2026. What: rebrand of the native coin.

Covered in detail in our main explainer. Short version:

• Toncoin → Gram (ticker TON → GRAM)
• The network remains TON
• No swap, no contract changes
• Return to the original 2018 name
• 3-week transition window

Why it was needed:

1. Branding. “Gram” is historically associated with Telegram. “Toncoin” — with the community fork. Telegram wants association with itself.
2. SEC restriction expired. The 5-year ban on using the Gram name has lapsed (from May 2020).
3. Market signal. “This is our project, we stand behind it.” Telegram no longer masks its role.

What could be in steps 5, 6, 7

Durov hasn’t disclosed. We analyze based on:

• His public statements in 2024–2025
• Patents Telegram filed in 2025–2026
• The contextual MTONGA logic (tech upgrade → brand → monetization)

Hypothesis for step 5: deep Gram integration into Telegram products

Probability: high (70%+)

What could happen:

• Gram as the universal Telegram ads currency. Today, advertisers pay in Stars (internal Telegram currency) or in TON via direct contracts. Likely unification — all settlements in Gram, Stars becoming a stable-derivative.
• Gram staking as a Telegram Premium mechanism. Stake Gram > N → automatic Telegram Premium subscription. This would function as a utility staker’s premium.
• Gram as a buyback/burn currency for Telegram Stars revenue. Telegram uses part of revenue to buy back Gram, creating deflationary pressure.

Hypothesis for step 6: Layer-2 or additional sharding

Probability: medium (40–50%)

What could happen:

• Telegram L2 launch — a separate chain on top of TON, optimized for messenger scenarios (chat payments, mass Mini App activity)
• Additional shardchains — dedicated shards for specific Telegram products (Mini Apps, ads, NFTs)
• AppKit / Builders Portal 3.0 — easier app onboarding to TON

Hypothesis for step 7: Bitcoin bridge Teleport + ZK extensions

Probability: medium-low (30–40%)

Telegram mentioned in 2025 that TON would be among the first L1s with a trust-less Bitcoin bridge. Based on zk-proofs and multi-party computation.

• Teleport mainnet — summer 2026
• ZK extensions — for private payments in Telegram, transaction privacy
• AgenticKit — framework for AI agents on TON

Detailed forecast and reasoning in our MTONGA steps 5–7 prediction.

What MTONGA means for each cohort

For Toncoin/Gram holders

Positive:

• Network is technically faster and cheaper
• Brand gains the backing of the world’s most recognizable messenger company
• Liquidity grows on narrative-driven pumps

Negative:

• Centralization — the network now depends on one corporation
• Regulatory risk concentrates in a single point (if SEC/EU put pressure, they pressure Telegram)

For developers

Positive:

• Sub-second finality — a real UX sea change
• Microfees open new scenarios
• Telegram marketing brings traffic

Negative:

• Higher dependence on one ecosystem (Telegram can change rules anytime)
• TON Foundation loses operational momentum (slowing independent development)

For the market

• Short-term: pump on each step (10–25%)
• Long-term: depends on Telegram’s execution

For regulators

• Risk concentrates in one jurisdiction (where Telegram is governed)
• Possible new SEC/EU claims that Gram is a “de-facto Telegram security”

Cadence and pace

Pace — roughly one step per month. If sustained, step 5 lands in early July 2026, step 6 in August, step 7 in September. Speculative, but the cadence is telling.

Context: Durov’s 2024 arrest in France

In August 2024, Durov was arrested in France over insufficient Telegram moderation (terrorism, drug trafficking, child safety). The case dragged through 2025–2026; Telegram ultimately agreed to expanded law-enforcement cooperation.

In the MTONGA context, this creates a mixed signal: on one hand, Telegram becomes more transparent as a corporation (reducing TON’s regulatory risk); on the other, it drifts from the original “cryptography + privacy” stance that attracted early users.

What the Foundation says

The TON Foundation has not given a detailed reaction to MTONGA at the time of writing. Internally, the Foundation signed off on all steps (per The Block, April 2026), but publicly stays in the background.

Foundation logic:

• Preserve the grant and community function
• Don’t publicly resist — Telegram brings traffic and capital
• Move toward an “advisory body” rather than “driving force”

This is an example of how decentralized governance in practice yields to corporate control when the corporation can offer more resources than the community.

Bottom line

MTONGA is the most significant restructuring of TON in the network’s history. Four of seven steps shipped in two months. Steps 5, 6, 7 likely involve Gram monetization via Telegram products, technical scaling, and expansion via bridges/AI.

For long-term holders, the key takeaway: TON 2026 is a different project than TON 2024. More speed, more traffic, more centralization. A trade-off the market is, for now, accepting positively.

Further reading:

• Full breakdown of the Toncoin → Gram rebrand
• Telegram takes over TON: centralization analysis
• MTONGA steps 5–7 forecast
• TON history from Gram 2018 to Gram 2026