Telegram is reportedly looking to join the crypto craze with a blockchain platform of its own. Dubbed either “The Open Network” or “Telegram Open Network” — “TON” for short — it is supposed to be based on an improved version of blockchain technology.
Anton Rozenberg, a former employee of Telegram’s publishing division Telegraph, was first to break the news on Facebook where he shared what is supposedly an advertorial video for the new platform. He also pointed out that TON would help those living under oppressive governments, since they would be able to transfer money through the messaging app without any oversight.
According to Cointelegraph, TON’s currency (token) will be called “Gram” — which is a wordplay on the metric system’s units — and it will be natively integrated with some of the most popular messaging apps, Telegram obviously being one of them. Also, it is said that the platform will utilize light wallets, making it unnecessary for users to download and store a large blockchain on their devices.
This, and the fact that Telegram already has 180 million users, should help the nascent platform quickly grow.
Crypto-community loves Telegram
It kinda makes sense for Telegram to take this route as most users versed into cryptocurrencies and blockchain are already using their messaging app.
“Like right now, the entire Blockchain and cryptocurrency community just switched to Telegram,” according to Telegram’s cofounder Pavel Durov.
In addition to the crypto community, the app is also being massively used by dissidents and ordinary citizens living under oppressive regimes. For instance, Telegram accounts for 40% of Iran’s internet traffic, and the Iranian government has even charged Durov, in absentia, of terrorism.
It’s not about the money…
In his home turf of Russia, where he co-founded the country’s most popular social network VK, the government has asked Durov to share personal information about the network’s users. After rejecting the “offer,” the government has forced him to sell his stake in the company to one of Putin’s allies.
After that incident, Durov left Russia for good, taking his substantial wealth with him to St. Kitts and Nevis, and investing enough in the Caribbean nation to become a citizen.
He insists Telegram is not for sale at any price, because his users’ privacy is too valuable to risk: “Even for $20 billion, it’s not for sale,” he said. “That’s a lifetime guarantee.”
We like how that sounds, and can’t help but keep our fingers crossed for the TON network. From what we can tell, it can bring cryptocurrencies to mainstream users, allowing them to send and receive money from a messaging app. That, after all, is what Apple is doing with iMessage.
UPDATE: According to a TechCrunch report, Telegram may be considering raising as much as $500 million in the pre-ICO sale at a potential total token value in the range of $3 billion to $5 billion.