Telegram, a secure messaging service, which combines 200 million active users, has reportedly canceled its planned initial coin offering (ICO) for public investors.
Brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, Telegram creators, are aiming to build a blockchain-based platform TON (Telegram Open Network). The TON will complement the messaging app with a range of services that include payments, file storage, censorship-proof browsing and decentralized apps hosted on the platform.
The TON coins will be called «Grams». Grams will serve as the principal currency for the in-app economy on Telegram.
In January, there were speculations that Telegram was planning to carry out an ICO in two stages: a private sale and public ICO.
However, a person familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that Telegram had already collected quite a sum from a small group of private investors – a narrow circle of venture funds and high-net-worth individuals – and has no intentions to raise additional funds.
The private sale was completed in two rounds and drew $1.7 billion ($850 million in February and $850 million in March).
The official document submitted to the SEC describes the type of securities sold to private investors as “Purchase Agreements for Cryptocurrency”. It means that private investors bought rights to the internal cryptocurrency of Telegram which will be distributed among them once the TON platform is launched.
As a result of public ICO cancellation, regular investors will have to wait until Grams are released on cryptocurrency exchanges.