As Telegram continues its battle against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in regard to a $1.7 billion unregistered securities sale (as alleged), it has had to further day the much-awaited launch of the TON blockchain. This is the second time the SEC has forbidden Telegram from launching its platform.
In a letter to investors, the company has now offered to refund 72% of their investment. However, it also opened up another option for investors. The latter states, “As a token of gratitude for your trust in TON, we are also offering you an alternative option to receive 110% of your original investment by April 30, 2021, which is 53% higher than the Termination Amount.”
It assured them that Telegram is in discussions with authorities, and it is likely that investors might as well end up receiving ‘grams or potentially another cryptocurrency on the same terms as those in their original Purchase Agreements.’
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Telegram has recently crossed the 400 million monthly users milestone and believes that this itself adds a lot of value to the company. At present, founder and CEO, Pavel Durov owns 100% of Telegram.
However, if it eventually fails to launch the TON Blockchain, Telegram is open to repaying investor debt by selling equity, which the firm believes is far more valuable in the long run, especially considering the rate at which it is scaling.
In an interview with Coindesk, Sergey Solonin, a $17 million investor in TON stated, “The terms are really good, I think a lot of investors will choose to keep their money in Telegram. There is definitely capital value there, and even if Telegram will ultimately not be allowed to issue grams, I think, in the course of this year it can find an investor and pay the money back to the token purchasers.”