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Telegram's cryptocurrency kickoff halted by SEC

An unregistered initial coin offering had already raised $1.7 billion, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Corinne Reichert Senior Writer
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently oversees the CNET breaking news desk for the West Coast. Corinne covers everything from phones, social media and security to movies, politics, 5G and pop culture. In her spare time, she watches soccer games, F1 races and Disney movies.
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An initial coin offering by encrypted messaging service Telegram has been halted by a restraining order filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the SEC on Friday, the emergency action will temporarily prevent what it alleges is an unregistered ICO that's already raised $1.7 billion. Around 2.9 billion digital tokens called grams have been sold to 171 purchasers, the SEC alleges.

Telegram had announced its plans in late August to kick off its own cryptocurrency and is planning to launch its blockchain by Oct. 31, according to the SEC.

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The SEC alleges Telegram and subsidiary TON started raising funds to develop the TON Blockchain or Telegram Open Network, as well as the Telegram Messenger app, back in January 2018.

The sales of Grams were also not registered despite being securities, the SEC has alleged.

"Our emergency action today is intended to prevent Telegram from flooding the US markets with digital tokens that we allege were unlawfully sold," said Stephanie Avakian, SEC co-director of enforcement. 

Telegram didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

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