In late March, the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York issued a decision banning the release of the Gram cryptocurrency on the TON blockchain platform. As a result, the Telegram management decided to postpone the launch of the tokens, until April 2021, and the head of the company, Pavel Durov, promised to return the money to the investors – but with certain conditions.
According to the «Statements» edition with reference to people close to Telegram, the launch of the project has now been postponed indefinitely. Pavel Durov had previously promised the investors 72% return of the invested funds under the original contract. As an alternative, he offered them the opportunity to receive 110% of the advance, with the proviso that it would be withdrawn on April 30, 2021. The source alleges that the company will continue its dialogue with the authorities, and if permission is not obtained, Telegram will repay the debt using the proceeds from equity sales.
The Gram cryptocurrency was originally to be made available to investors in October 2019, but the American regulator SEC sued the platform. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission noted that Telegram, knowing that Gram was a financial asset and securities, had decided not to register tokens under United States law.
The TON blockchain platform was marketed as a global ecosystem with its own cryptocurrency that could be used to pay for various goods and services as an alternative to Bitcoin and Etherium. The total investment in the project was about $1.7 billion.
