Telegram, the popular encrypted messenger launched by Pavel Durov in 2013, has completed second private token sale for its new blockchain project. As much as $850 million have been raised from 94 investors, reported Bloomberg, citing a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission published this past Thursday.
“Raising the planned amount is a success for Telegram, given that the Bitcoin decline in recent weeks made investors more cautious toward crypto-assets,” the financial news agency quoted crypto asset investor Gennady Zhilyaev as saying.
During the first sale earlier this year, Telegram had attracted $850 million from 81 investors (including Silicon Valley funds Benchmark and Sequoia Capital). A third round of funding could allow Telegram to raise nearly $2.5 billion in total.
Telegram is going down in history as the largest ICO to date, breaking the record set by Tezos last year ($232 million).
This giant ICO is controversial, however, with skeptics seeing in it just marketing fluff, or doubting that Telegram can fully fulfil its ambitious blockchain project.
Telegram is not allowing persons falling into international sanction lists to participate in this ICO. The ban applies to the people sanctioned by the United States, the UK, the EU and the UN Security Council, as reported last month by East-West Digital News.
Meanwhile, Telegram is fighting to survive in Russia, where it can be sued for not providing decrypted copies of all user correspondence to the Federal Security Service.
