The world’s fourth-largest messaging app may look for a U.S. listing after its IPO. Investor offers have valued Telegram at over $30 billion.
Telegram News
Founded in 2013 by Pavel and Nikolai Durov, Telegram is a cloud-based encrypted messaging service with over 400 million users. Through its purported security and strict adherence to principles of censorship-resistance and privacy, the Telegram messenger app has become a popular choice for individuals seeking secure communication channels, much to the dismay of governments and regimes around the world.
The company made waves when it announced that it was building a blockchain and cryptocurrency system, called the Telegram Open Network, or TON. The project sought to address the scalability bottlenecks of existing blockchains and integrate TON into its 400-million-plus user base. In early 2018, the project raised $1.7 billion through several rounds of private sales in an initial coin offering.
As the largest crowdsale in the space to date, TON quickly caught the attention of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. When the network was about to launch, the SEC halted the distribution of TON’s GRAM tokens to investors, citing the assets as an unregistered securities offering and questioning Telegram’s intent given that the Durov brothers had essentially been funding the platform without baking in any revenue model.
The TON codebase has since become open source, with other initiatives picking up the torch.
The SEC vs. Telegram case has vast implications for the future of cryptocurrency regulation moving forward.
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Mirana Ventures invests $8 million into The Open Network ecosystem as Bybit looks to tap into Telegram’s recently launched advertising platform.
3697This week’s Crypto Biz examines concerns over chip shortages and sustainability issues for crypto miners, Telegram’s new ad platform, Kraken’s expansion into institutional investors, and more.
6328Telegram channel owners will start receiving 50% of all advertising revenue generated in their channels.
11709A TON-selected Web3 game aims to leverage the fantasy football genre to new heights, bringing a new dimension to the gaming experience on Telegram.
16290The trader used a popular sniping trading bot called Banana Gun to be the first to buy the newly launched SatoshiVM tokens.
7095He's arrest by Chinese police in May 2023 led to the collapse of the $1.6 billion Multichain protocol.
2349Telegram is not the first platform for sharing and distributing content. But that may be about to change, as a decentralized content layer has invented a new bot that rewards users for interacting with content.
57636Explore the world of crypto trading within Telegram using specialized bots, offering efficiency and convenience.
9965Worldcoin released a new version of its World ID feature with multiple app integrations.
8906Animoca Brands became the biggest validator of the TON blockchain in 2023, banking on the network effect of Telegram’s 800 million users to drive GameFi adoption.
5617Animoca Brands invests in the TON blockchain protocol and become its largest validator as it eyes GameFi development on the platform.
4124“We hope you can remember us as the best drainer that has ever existed,” wrote the scam-as-a-service wallet drainer.
13341The third-party crypto bot Wallet is debuting its global rollout on Telegram Messenger in several countries in Latin America and Africa.
8025TON’s price risks a correction in the short term as it nears a confluence of historically strong resistance zones.
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