GRAM, the token formerly known as Toncoin, has a cliff unlock scheduled for today, September 22, worth approximately $52.68 million. A cliff unlock releases a batch of previously locked tokens all at once on a set date, unlike a linear schedule that meters supply out gradually. Unlocking makes tokens available to their holders; it does not automatically mean they are sold. The release comprises 36.58 million GRAM, or roughly 1.3% of the token's circulating supply.

While the dollar figure looks unremarkable against the broader crypto market, it equals approximately 83% of GRAM's 24-hour trading volume.

Why the volume comparison beats the price tag

DeFiLlama has scheduled the TON Believers Fund release for 7:19 PM UTC on September 22, while Tonviewer indicates its next batch of releases at about 37 million GRAM on October 7, with the monthly allocations expected to last for three years.

The two trackers report the schedule differently: DeFiLlama cites September 22 as the date for the cliff unlock, while Tonviewer cites October 7 as when the next payment is due. Because neither reconciles the two dates, it is best to view September 22 as cliff unlock date set by DeFiLlama rather than a distribution date confirmed by Tonviewer.

The GRAM token price is $1.44, according to DeFiLlama, which also reports $63.27 million in traded volume over the last 24 hours and a market capitalization of $4.045 billion. On that basis, the $52.68 million of unlocked tokens represents approximately 83% of the total volume traded in one day.

Such a volume of tokens being unlocked is unusually high relative to trading activity. A recent survey conducted by The Tie of over 12,000 unlocks found that the median unlock is equal to just 0.20% of the average daily volume of a token, whereas 95.6% of the events took place with lower trading volume for the day. The main conclusion derived from this research was that liquidity is more relevant than the dollar amount when analyzing unlocks' capacity affect the market.

What the renamed Toncoin actually is

On June 15, 2026, Toncoin was renamed Gram, with the ticker GRAM, following approval by the community. The Open Network has retained the name TON for its blockchain, and the official TON media account explicitly differentiates Gram as the coin from TON as the blockchain itself. Messari's overview of TON includes information about the functions the asset performs in the network, including network fees, staking, and payments linked to Telegram.

The TON Believers Fund appears as an active locker on Tonviewer, storing close to 1.25 billion GRAM at a value of approximately $1.82 billion based on the explorer's price. It has reported 12 of the 36 distribution periods already completed, meaning that a significant amount of supply is still left in the pipeline. That cadence makes September 22 one installment in a recurring, multi-year supply schedule rather than a one-off event.

The case that the move is already behind us

According to a Tokenomist investigation of over 236 token unlock events, the vast majority of the downward movements occurred before the unlock date. The analysis noted that the pre-event movement was −14.7% relative to Bitcoin's value. Of significance for GRAM is that established tokens with higher liquidity do not appear to show much of an unlocking effect regardless of the specifics of the controls employed, with more vulnerability existing among early tokens possessing lower trading volume.

Where the data leans negative

Keyrock's analysis of more than 16,000 unlock events found that 90% created negative price pressure and that price effects often began about 30 days before the event.

A 2026 study of 52 unlocked cryptocurrencies included on Binance similarly found that 88.5% (46) of the unlocks produced negative returns, with an average return of −16.97% within 72 hours. These results are correlational, meaning they show what was happening around the time of the unlocks but not what the unlocks specifically caused.

Telegram's billion-user wallet on the demand side

Demand could soften that supply pressure. Pavel Durov said in July that Telegram would embed a fee-free, non-custodial Gram wallet across its apps, potentially reaching more than 1 billion users. GRAM rose more than 8% after the announcement, according to Cryptopolitan.

Telegram has not explained how it would cover zero-fee transaction costs, so the demand effect remains prospective rather than proven.

A GRAM problem, not a market problem

CoinGecko puts the global crypto market capitalization at about $3.04 trillion. Against that backdrop, a $52.68 million GRAM release is too small to be a systemic event. The real test is narrower: whether GRAM's liquidity can absorb the scheduled supply without a sharp local reaction, and whether any spillover reaches TON ecosystem tokens or nearby altcoin sentiment. The observable checkpoints from here are GRAM's daily traded volume against the newly unlocked supply in the sessions following the 7:19 PM UTC release, and any new detail from Telegram on how the zero-fee wallet would be funded ahead of Tonviewer's next scheduled batch on October 7.

Source: Cryptopolitan