Telegram messenger is understood to be considering raising as much as USD 500 million in the pre-ICO (Initial Coin Offering) sale.

According to Vedomosti, which quotes TechCrunch and its personal sources, encrypted messaging startup Telegram plans to launch its own blockchain platform and native cryptocurrency, which “could give Telegram’s payment system enormous independence from any government or bank”.

The new cryptocurrency may be called “Gram”.

06.10.2017 | 12:39 Unraveling ICO

ICO will come as soon as March. Around 4% of the issue will be reserved for the employees of the company.

According to TechCrunch, it will potentially be one of the largest ICOs to date, as the demand is driven by the fact that rather than the ICO coming from a fresh startup, Telegram is a well-established messaging platform used around the world.

In the pre-sale the company will try to attract big investors (“whales”) before a wider token sale to retail investors. Pre-sale investors may be required to place a minimum buy-in of USD 20 million. The messenger may also require real fiat currency like US dollars for buy-in.

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