Telegram cancels plans for public ICO

According to the Wall Street Journal’s anonymous source, Telegram will not be holding an ICO for the wider public. A presale in February attracted US$850 million in investment and another private sale in March realized a similar amount. It is believed with US$1.7 billion already secured there is no need for the instant messaging service to offer its token (called “Gram”) any further.

The money will apparently be used to develop TON (Telegram Open Network), which is the blockchain-based platform that could offer a variety of secure services for Telegram’s 200 million active monthly users. The positive reception from private investors will be welcome news, as the service is currently dealing with considerable censorship issues: It was banned in Russia, blocked in Iran, and it is still banned in China.

Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, has warned curious potential investors about falling for scam ICOs. A number of phishing websites were set up by fraudsters looking to persuade some of Telegram’s millions of users into buying fake tokens. With all the available tokens being snapped up in the two private sales, those interested in getting some of the service’s digital currency will now likely have to wait until the token eventually starts appearing on cryptocurrency exchanges.

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