Encrypted messaging app Telegram has again pushed the deadline of its token launch, this time by one year.
Reported by Coindesk, Telegram has reached out to Gram investors on Wednesday, offering them a return of 72 percent of their initial investment or they can support the postponement of the token launch till April 2021.
Originally, Gram token was scheduled to launch last October, but the company was forced to push the deadline till April 2020 due to the ongoing legal battle with the US Securities and Commission Exchange (SEC).
The terms of the new offer to the investors are similar to what the company offered them in the first postponement of the project.
Telegram also sweetened the deal for the investors supporting the project by offering a lending deal to their investment for up to April next year.
“As a token of gratitude for your trust in TON, we are also offering you an alternative option to receive 110% of your original investment by April 30, 2021, which is 53% higher than the Termination Amount,” Telegram’s letter stated.
SEC's hunt for unregistered securities
Telegram raised $1.7 billion in two close door token sale rounds, making it one of the biggest initial coin offerings (ICOs).
Though the company moved to the court for token launch despite SEC’s charges against it for being unregistered securities, the court halted the launch putting in place the initial preliminary injunction.
In the letter, Telegram revealed that it is “continuing to engage in discussions with the relevant authorities” and assured that investors will receive “Grams or potentially another cryptocurrency on the same terms as those in their original Purchase Agreements.”
However, the most highlighted portion of the letter might be Telegram’s consideration to pay the investors in company Equities in case of any failure of the launch of TON.
"Investors were offered to provide Telegram with a loan. Telegram may need to sell some equity later to get the money to repay the loan, but repayment in equity was not offered as an option," a Telegram spokesperson told Finance Magnates.
Notably, the platform’s founder Pavel Durov is the sole owner of the company. With around 400 million monthly users on-board, Telegram believes that its “equity value will exceed the aggregate amount of its potential debt resulting from this offer by at least several times.”
