Messaging app Telegram is close to raising another $850 million as its initial coin offering extends toward a third month, Bloomberg quotes people familiar with the matter as saying.
“Investors are placing sufficient orders in the second round even after the token was priced at more than triple last month’s level,” the people said.
They added, however, that interest cooled somewhat since market leader Bitcoin failed to return to its January highs.
Telegram raised $850 million from large investors last month, selling rights to virtual coins called Grams at $0.38 apiece. The second round is targeting another $850 million at $1.33 apiece this month, Bloomberg further said.
The company is raising funds to build its own blockchain network with Gram built-in, enabling much faster transactions speed than rival networks run for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Telegram also seeks to build rent servers, boost the number of users and pay operating expenses, the documents say.