Telegram, a secure messaging service, had been working to launch its very own ICO or initial coin offering. It’s a process through which companies can now raise funds by issuing digital coins to investors. It has already conducted a private sale which brought in a substantial amount of money. Many in the crypto game were waiting for the public sale of Telegram’s coins but it appears that Telegram will no longer be doing that.
The first presale took place in February which raised $850 million from 81 investors. The company then raised a similar amount in its second presale in March from 94 investors. Telegram has raised $1.7 billion so far without selling a single digital coin to the public.
It’s not because something went wrong with the ICO that Telegram decided not to go ahead with the public sale. The Wall Street Journal hears from an anonymous source that Telegram won’t be conducting a public sale because the private sale already raised too much money, around $1.7 billion.
One source told the scribe that another reason for not going ahead with the public sale is the stricter regulations on initial coin offerings that have been proposed by Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and other lawmakers.
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