In an April 30 letter to investors, Durov put his stake in the Telegram messaging app on the table, offering to reimburse 110% of their investment with his own money if they let their gram token investment ride for another year. Otherwise, they can cash out now, getting back 72 cents on the dollar.
Telegram has been locked in a fierce legal battle with the Security and Exchange Commission, which wants to block the company’s initial coin offering and halt the launch of its Telegram Open Network, or TON, blockchain. But that hasn’t stopped the messaging app company from pushing forward with the technical details of its project. On Feb. 3, Telegram issued the latest version of its technical whitepaper for its TON blockchain—a key piece in actually launching its gram tokens and fulfilling the promises it made to its investors.
Telegram’s victory in court over the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday wasn’t much of a victory. In fact, it could prove to be the undoing of its planned Telegram Open Network blockchain platform and gram cryptocurrency. The simultaneous announcement that it won't integrate gram payments into its Telegram Messenger platform signals a recognition that its fight to keep the $1.7 billion in gram tokens it sold in 2018 from being declared a security is faltering.
Back in February 2018, Forbes Magazine identified 19 of the “Richest in Crypto” based on who had about $1 billion worth in crypto. Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz led the pack along with former child actor Brock Pierce and Coinbase’ then-35 year old CEO Brian Armstrong. But of those 19, only Armstrong appears on Forbes’ much anticipated list of billionaires in 2019.
