Recent obstacles in developing the Telegram Open Network proved too difficult for the company
After a years-long legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Telegram has decided to discontinue its crypto-focused subsidiary, the Telegram Open Network (TON). The company is no longer actively involved with TON.
Pavel Durov, Telegram’s founder and CEO, warned internet users to be cautious of websites and scammers using his name, the Telegram brand, or the acronym “TON” to promote projects.
“You may have already seen sites that use my name, the Telegram brand, or the abbreviation ‘TON’ to promote their projects. Do not trust them with your money or data,” Durov said in his announcement.
TON was designed to give anyone with a smartphone access to a cryptocurrency ecosystem. The idea resembled Facebook’s Libra initiative, which also faced major challenges during its development.
In October 2019, the SEC ordered Telegram to halt the sale of its cryptocurrency (known as the Gram) after the company failed to register a pre-sale of $1.7 billion in tokens before the network’s launch. Telegram has said those funds were raised in 2018 through a series of pre-ICO offerings. Telegram later canceled the ICO, citing increased regulatory scrutiny from the SEC as a factor.
In his announcement, Durov expressed his personal view of the court’s decision, arguing that U.S. courts should not have the authority to prevent the sale of cryptocurrencies outside U.S. borders. He encouraged others in the crypto community to take up the fight against efforts to centralize control—calling it “the most important fight of our generation”—and expressed hope that “you may succeed where we failed.”
Earlier reports noted that TON’s launch had been postponed until April 2021. That delay followed an earlier postponement after the SEC filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York and obtained an emergency injunction in October 2019, which moved the launch previously scheduled for April 2020.