Telegram has done it once again! The company has matched the record it made in 2017 by raising $850 million, a number that now puts the company at a 1.7$ billion value.
Records beyond expectations
It was early December when the rumors of Telegram’s ICO started, leaving blockchain followers thrilled since the messaging app is a favorite among crypto users. The founders, the Durov brothers’ silence also created an atmosphere of enthusiasm.
Original expectations for the ICO were in the region of $600 million, a figure surpassed in February when it reached $850 million.
Moreover, the company raised money from only 81 accredited investors in a closed ICO back in January. Telegram’s digital asset dubbed as “Gram” passed from a price of $0.30 to $0.38 later due to oversubscription, gaining the record of the biggest fund raised in an ICO, a title previously belonging to Filecoin.
Then Telegram deployed the second round at the end of March raising $850 million again, placing the company at a $1.7 billion value. This may not be the last funding round either, so the company’s future looks promising.
TON – the next big step from Telegram
Telegram is planning to use all of its opportunities, and that’s exactly what they have in mind by deploying the Telegram Open Network (TON); a platform with which the company aims to solve the main issues in the cryptocurrency field as well as consolidating the community of 200 million users the app has.
Subsequently, Telegram is launching TON to make transactions faster, costs lower, and scalability higher. They aim to mix their network with an easy-to-interact design that facilitates operations in general.
The network will make use of the Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm and allow blockchain splitting, merging by offering an infinite sharding paradigm.
Finally, the company will offer services to make the platform an integral solution; some of these will include storage on the cloud, decentralized browsing, micropayments channels, DNS services and support for decentralized apps.
Comments on the project
Despite the apparent success for the Telegram ICO, there are still questions. Some experts question if the ambitiousness of Telegram will mean the company will have to be valued at least at $2 billion in order for investors to get appropriate retribution.
Similar cases have been distant in their fundraising actions, like the case of the outstanding Ethereum which only raised the amount of $20 million in order to create its current project which is valued at $37 billion now.
