As a US court halted Gram token distribution, a few Telegram Open Network (TON) investors are considering pulling out from the project.
Originally reported by Russian news agency TASS, Yakov Barinsky, the head of crypto investment bank Hash CIB, revealed that at least ten investors are considering pulling their investment from the Gram token, taking away 72 percent of their original amount.
“Very much, at least 10 investors with whom I spoke, are inclined to take away 72% of the invested funds. Given what is happening in the financial markets, this offer looks much better than in October,” Barinsky said (translated from Russian).
SEC on the way
This comes after a US court approved the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) move for an emergency injunction request as the messaging company was preparing to distribute Gram tokens to its investors.
Telegram reportedly raised $1.7 billion in two rounds of a closed-door token sale, becoming the largest Initial Coin Offering (ICO) ) to date. In its whitepaper, the company promised its investors to deliver Gram tokens by last October.
Though it was reported that the company was ready to distribute the tokens, the SEC’s move against the company for violation of securities law forced the cancellation of distribution.
Telegram, however, approached TON investors for delaying the token distribution process by six months, or they can exit, taking 77 percent of their investments. The investors chose the first, and, in exchange, the messaging company promised to invest another $80 million in the Blockchain project.
Per the report, if an investor wants to exit now, only 72 percent of the investment amount will be refunded as 5 percent was spent in the development process over the months.
“In the first case, it will be necessary to conduct an IPO, so the launch will be delayed for at least another year, that is, until April 30 this will not be possible. The second option: if American investors come out, lawsuits from the rest may follow,” Barinsky added.
Meanwhile, Telegram also decided to challenge the court’s decision to push its token in the secondary market.
