The Telegram company has been beaten and battered by regulators all over the world – but the company is still going strong with its Telegram messenger service, as well as a long-standing plan to adopt a new ICO with a proprietary TON network token.
The latest news today is that the Russian government has officially given up on banning the Telegram communications app within the country. Reports at BB show how a Russian watchdog was pressuring government agencies to force telegram to provide additional information on its business model or seek to crack down on its use domestically which has been pretty prolific.
“Some Russian media cast the move as a capitulation, but communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said it had acted because the app’s Russian founder, Pavel Durov, was prepared to cooperate in combating terrorism and extremism on the platform,” wrote an unnamed reporter.
Reuters provided the following quote by Telegram spokespersons:
“Roskomnadzor is dropping its demands to restrict access to Telegram messenger in agreement with Russia’s general prosecutor’s office.”
In a strange aside, Pavel Durov, the cofounder of Telegram, also led the Russian VK (Vkontakte) system, which has been called ‘Russia’s Facebook’ with 500 million users.
A few months ago, we reported quite a bit on the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s frenetic attempts to block Telegrams new TON ICO plan.
The SEC lobbied U.S. courts to demand Telegram’s financial information, subjected Durov to a 17 hour deposition and eventually succeeded in stymieing the initial efforts to roll out Telegram’s token.
However, modern reports show that the company still plans to use available investor money at a future point in time, although analysts suggest investors are now getting nervous.
“Telegram has now set a planned launch date for TON of April 2021,” writes Adrien Henni at The Moscow Times. “Under the initial plan, an early minimum viable version of TON was scheduled to be released some time in the second quarter of 2018 — two years ago — with a promised full launch in 2019 … Acknowledging the uncertainty around discussions with authorities, Durov proposed an escape route. Investors can cash out now and get an immediate refund of 72% of their initial investment. Should they choose to hold on until the new planned launch date of April 30, 2021, Telegram promised to return 110% of their stake. If regulators block the project beyond then, Telegram said it would repay the debt using company equity.”
Telegram’s continued foray into blockchain, and its durable interest as a messaging application, is an interesting example of how companies fare in today’s 21st-century regulatory environment – bringing to mind the old saying “you can’t keep a good man down,” or, alternately, the old Rolex slogan: “It takes a licking, and keeps right on ticking.”
