The Strategist

US authorities are seeking to suspend Telegram cryptocurrency



10/14/2019 - 06:13



The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced imposition of a temporary injunction on offshore companies that allegedly hold an unregistered initial coin offering (ICO) of tokens. This is stated in the message of the commission.



pixabay
pixabay
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday announced adoption of "emergency measures and the receipt of an order to impose a temporary limit" in relation to two offshore companies associated with the Telegram Open Network (TON) ICO. The SEC claims that these companies sold Gram digital tokens illegally: they were supposed to register the sale as a securities transaction, but did not disclose information about the business, financial condition and risks. Offshore companies have already raised $ 1.7 billion.

"The extraordinary measures we took today are aimed at preventing the influx of Telegram digital tokens into the US market, which we claim were sold illegally," said Stephanie Avakian, co-head of the SEC enforcement department. "We claim that the defendants did not provide investors with information regarding Gram tokens, business transactions, financial conditions, risk factors, and Telegram management, as required by securities laws."

As stated in the lawsuit, fundraising began in January 2018 to finance the business of these companies, including the launch of the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain platform and the Telegram messenger.

Defendants sold about 2.9 billion Gram digital tokens at discounted prices to 171 primary purchasers worldwide, including more than 1 billion Gram to 39 US investors, the lawsuit said.

source: theverge.com