Bitcoin Forum

Encryption messaging app Telegram raised 1,7 Billion USD in their ICO for the sale of their token "Gram" that will run on upcoming "Ton" blockchain.
Most of us are using telegram and we already know they had an ICO, but what is going on with it lately?

The SEC has recently demanded information on the amount raised by Telegram as also for the way Telegram handled this money. Basically SEC wants to rule if the Gram Token is governed by the Securities Act of 1933.
Still telegram refused to hand over their complete data and the SEC looks even more concerned. They have already pressed charges against Telegram for the selling of unregistered securities to investors.
This is relevant to the October news of telegram delaying the distribution of Gram tokens to their 171 investors worldwide and pausing their ICO, after an emergency restraining order issued by the SEC.

It is the turn of Telegram to dispute SEC arguments and try to distinct Gram tokens as a currency or commodity instead of security.
Pavel Durov is telegram's creator and CEO of Telegram Messenger and he is expected to appear for examination before the authorities this January, along with vice-president Ilya Perekopsky and Telegram employee Shyam Parekh. https://www.cryptopolitan.com/telegram-sec-legal-case-pavel-durov/
Telegram will try to defend, by stating that the sales were private and no public offering ever happened.

Telegram is believed to have 300 million registered users and their token Gram will be used for transactions through their messaging app.
The encryption of telegram is being challenged by cryptographers for its security and the custom-made protocol used.

Source: https://decrypt.co/15851/telegram-refuses-to-meet-the-secs-demands
Other info:
https://www.coindesk.com/sec-halts-telegrams-1-7-billion-unlawful-token-issuance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegram_(software)

TON will be force closed soon if they resist SEC. The devs is really not considering there investors safety. TON will follow the fate of Airtoken and Paragon which the SEC demand a refund for there investors.  :D

its so crazy that telegram raised like 2 BILLION dollars for whats literally a MSN messenger app
atleast they followed discord and stole a buncha UI changes, that shit was so 90's... still kinda is but atleast theres channels now
i was hoping they would launch the token, was gonna be a funny bloodbath :(  oh well lol  was just a cash grab anyways

 When you have 1,7 Billion USD you can play games with SEC. All what can SEC do is give penalties. So Few millions out of those $1.7 billions will be given to them. Bankers will bank!

Frankly, I'm sick of these Telegram rumors. Every day we read the news about Telegram. But there has been nothing tangible for months. It is claimed that it has continuously raised 1.7 billion dollars. Who did they get this money from? Where are those who made these investments? They've been waiting for Telegram to show up for months? Quietly?

I'm not sure if I made a million dollar investment I would have waited silently for 2 years! And while all this was happening, there was no official statement from Telegram! Don't you think that's a bit suspicious?

I don't think it is suspicious! Private investment works like that. Who knows about the investors of Bitfinex's of LEO coin? All those Billion dollars raised by private investors, partners. Telegram is one of the world-leading messaging apps, so raising 2 billion dollars is not a big deal for them. Maybe they have a private group or mail where all the investors are talking secretly with the Telegram authority. I hope Telegram will overcome all these obstacles and the Gram/TON coin will be listed on exchange!

Yes we don't know who the Bitfinex's LEO's investors are. But we know its release date, conditions and rules. They transparently share with us.
Why didn't the Telegram do the same? Why are still keeping their silence? Why they didn't make any announcement?

We all accept that Telegram is great messaging apps. They have a lot of features and their competitors doesn't have many of them. But it don't proof anything to us.
They may announce soon about a token or coin. But they may not. I suggest be careful. Telegram has not any announcement yet, but some of shitty exchanges are trying to sell GRAM tokens. (which there is no official release or TGE)

It's hilarious how ingest had to pay that much for a project. And I must say that I am really impressed at how Telegram managed to raise that amount with much media bruhoha. Even SEC seems to have been caught off guard on this. Now Telegram is probably questioning the rights SEC has over a decentralized marketplace. I will like to see how it all plays out anyway

I'm shocked learning that telegram were able to raise such huge amount without even a proper ICO. Let's watch and see how the whole act plays out in the coming months.

lol that's very similar as tezos and when tezos is refusing SEC and SEC charges the pinalties only to the block.one

it looks like the same case will happen with TON


https://cointelegraph.com/news/telegram-refusing-to-tell-sec-how-it-spent-17-billion-of-ico-cash

but, isn't it 1,7 billions have already spent by the team?