Blockstream CEO Adam Again publicly questioned the inflation mechanics of Telegram’s newly rebranded Gram (GRAM) token, responding to Telegram founder Pavel Durov praising Bitcoin (BTC) as a protection towards authorities cash printing.
The remarks circulated on X, the place Durov argued in an interview that governments relentlessly increase the cash provide whereas Bitcoin stands aside. Again, a longtime cypherpunk and core Bitcoin contributor, replied instantly throughout the thread that somebody is nonetheless printing GRAM, a pointed reference to the token’s inflationary provide schedule.
Durov’s Bitcoin Conviction Has a Lengthy Historical past
Durov has held BTC as his major private reserve for over a decade. He bought roughly 2,000 BTC in 2013 at a mean worth of round $700 per coin and has maintained the place by way of a number of market cycles. These holdings reportedly helped fund Telegram’s working prices in periods when the platform ran with out conventional income streams.
His Bitcoin advocacy, nonetheless, arrives because the Telegram ecosystem completes its most important token transition in years. Telegram’s native token was just lately rebranded from Toncoin to Gram, restoring a reputation that appeared within the venture’s unique 2018 blockchain whitepaper earlier than US regulators pressured an earlier halt. All holdings transformed at a 1:1 ratio, with no motion required from holders. Exchanges have since up to date their listings to replicate the brand new ticker.
GRAM Has No Laborious Provide Cap
In distinction to Bitcoin’s protocol-enforced ceiling of 21 million cash, GRAM carries no equal restrict. The community generates new tokens every day by way of validator rewards, sustaining an annual inflation price of roughly 0.3% to 0.6%. Whole provide presently sits close to 5.2 billion tokens. In the meantime, the availability ceiling stays a governance query quite than a cryptographic fixed.
Again has argued that Bitcoin’s financial credibility will depend on a set, auditable issuance schedule that no governance determination can override. He subsequently made a parallel argument earlier in 2026, rejecting a contested fork proposal on related grounds that altering Bitcoin’s core guidelines produces a separate asset, not an improve.
GRAM’s emission parameters, against this, relaxation with community validators quite than a protocol rule hardened towards exterior stress. That distinction sits on the heart of his problem to Durov.
The controversy finally facilities on the variations between Bitcoin’s mounted financial coverage and GRAM’s validator-driven issuance mannequin, which continues to form discussions concerning the token’s position within the Telegram ecosystem.
Extra broadly, the change highlights the continuing debate over what traits qualify a digital asset as a long-term retailer of worth and the position financial coverage performs in that evaluation.
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