Telegram's blockchain-based project Telegram Open Network (TON) and its native token Gram (GRAM) is facing another threat: the US District Court for the Southern District of New York has agreed with the request of the US Securities Commission (SEC) to ban the distribution of the GRAM tokens as the issuance of the tokens would violate US securities laws.
However, the Court's decision is not a final decision in the SEC v Telegram case, even though the position of the Court set forth in the document leaves Durov little chance. The price of the issue is $1.3 billion, which Durov promised to return to investors in case of failure of the project.
The document published by the court is a decision of US District Judge Kevin Castel at the request of the SEC on a preliminary ban on the distribution of the Gram tokens, which the SEC filed with the court at the very beginning of the process, back in October last year.
The Court has acknowledged that the Gram tokens should be viewed as securities, and therefore the Telegram team was obliged to register the placement of securities under the relevant US law, which it did not do.
Earlier iHodl reported that six investors of the TON filed a petition with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York State to keep their anonymity during the court battle between Telegram and the SEC.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to stay up to date on the latest crypto and blockchain news.
Access more than 50 of the world's financial markets directly from your EXANTE account – including NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange.