Telegram to Finally Offer Gram Token to the Public, Pre-Sale Starts July 10

Messaging app giant Telegram's gram token, previously sold to accredited investors in the biggest ICO of all time back in early 2018, is at last to be offered to the public.

Messaging app giant Telegram’s gram token, which was previously sold to accredited investors in the biggest initial coin offering (ICO) of all time, will finally be offered to the public.

A limited sale of the gram token will take place on the Liquid exchange starting July 10, TechCrunch reported Monday. The offering is said to be ahead of a full public sale planned for October. The price of the token and the targeted total for the raise are yet to be disclosed.

The sale is being conducted through Gram Asia, which, according to TechCrunch, is a Korean entity that claims to be the largest holder of the gram token. Liquid’s website describes the firm as a “trusted partner” of Telegram.

Grams were earlier sold only to accredited investors in Telegram’s massive two-phase ICO in February and March of 2018 – a sale that brought in about $1.7 billion and was easily the largest fundraise made via a crypto token offering.

The funds were to be used to develop the Telegram Open Network (TON), an ambitious blockchain designed to decentralize various aspects of digital communication, from file sharing to browsing to transactions.

“TON brings speed and scalability to a multi-blockchain architecture that caters to the need for minimal transaction times and airtight security,” reads the gram sale page on Liquid’s website.

It also states that the sale is open to all investors worldwide, except for some nations including the U.S. and its territories and Japan, likely due to concerns that the token could be deemed a security in those jurisdictions.

As CoinDesk previously reported, it was unclear whether Telegram would ever hold a public sale at all, given such regulatory risks.

It’s also important to note that any gram tokens sold in the upcoming offering will not be immediately available for trading.

“The tokens being sold will not be released until after TON goes live (mainnet release), in accordance with the delivery schedule,” the website states, adding that purchasers will not be able to transfer, withdraw or trade the grams before they are released.

Investors signing up to Liquid for the sale can purchase grams with either U.S. dollars or the USDC stablecoin. A full token launch is expected by the end of October, the website indicates.