Telegram TON (GRAM)

Shut Down

Infrastructure · $GRAM · born 2018 · ✝ 2020

A $1.7B token sale halted by the SEC before it could launch.

Telegram raised about $1.7B for its Telegram Open Network and GRAM token. The SEC obtained an injunction calling the sale an unregistered securities offering, and Telegram abandoned the project.

Peak: ~$1.7B raised
Cause: Shut Down
Year of death: 2020

☠️ Cause of death

The SEC sued and won a preliminary injunction blocking GRAM distribution as unregistered securities; Telegram settled, returned funds to investors, and exited the project.

📓 Lessons left behind

—Large private token sales can be deemed unregistered securities.
—US securities law can halt a global token launch.
—Returning investor capital may be cheaper than fighting the SEC.

🌱 The idea that survived

The TON blockchain

Community developers revived the codebase as 'The Open Network,' which later integrated with Telegram independently.

#securities#ico#sec