Telegram to introduce its own cryptocurrency in October, report says
Another crypto for those who need to send money.
Telegram is reportedly coming out with its own cryptocurrency.
Encrypted messaging service Telegram will offer its own cryptocurrency in the fall, according to a report from The New York Times on Wednesday. The company reportedly wants its digital coin to function as a new online currency that will let people transfer money around the wold, similar to Facebook's newly unveiled Libra cryptocurrency.
Telegram's digital currency, called the Gram, will reportedly be released by the end of October. The messaging service plans to have digital wallets available for its millions of global users, according to the Times.
Telegram didn't respond to a request for comment.
Unlike Facebook and its partners on Libra, Telegram's work on the Gram has been largely under the radar. The company reportedly started working on the digital coin in 2017 and raised a reported $1.7 billion from investors last year in what was planned to be an initial coin offering, or ICO.
The Gram will reportedly be decentralized, similar to bitcoin, and won't be controlled by Telegram, which could help it escape some government regulation. Facebook and its partners have faced intensifying regulatory scrutiny of Libra since it was announced in June.
