Telegram bans the distribution of its GRAM cryptocurrency

Telegram must again postpone the release date of his cryptocurrency, the GRAM. An injunction by the American justice system prohibits him from issuing it as part of his ICO. The distribution of tokens would violate US securities law.

Kik is not the only crypto player to face the SEC, the US stock market policeman, in court. Between Telegram, the e-mail editor, and the regulator, the showdown also continues.

The $ 1.7 billion ICO completed in 2018 by the company remains at an impasse. And the locks remain securely in place at United States. A New York federal judge issued a preliminary injunction, spotted by Coindesk and prohibiting Telegram from distributing its tokens GRAM.

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The magistrate considers indeed that this emission would violate the American laws on the securities. In its judgment, it considers that "in the context of this arrangement, the resale of" GRAM "on the secondary public market would be an integral part of the sale of securities without a compulsory registration declaration. "

This decision could more widely set a precedent and constitute an obstacle to any issue of tokens within the framework of a SAFT or "Simple Agreement for Future Tokens. In this arrangement, the investors first acquire the tokens via an investment contract.

Future tokens, once distributed, would therefore not be securities. At least that’s the argument of Telegram, challenged by the SEC, and now also by a federal court. For the judge, in fact:

Reasonable buyers would not be willing to pay $ 1.7 billion to acquire Grams just to keep or transfer their value. Telegram has instead developed a program to maximize the amount that original buyers would be willing to pay Telegram by creating a structure to allow these buyers to maximize the value perceived when reselling in public markets. ”

GRAM tokens are regulated financial securities

The court therefore clearly leans in favor of the SEC, which considers that the financial mechanism put in place by Telegram to raise funds via the sale of tokens constitutes a distribution of financial securities. It should therefore have been registered and approved by the market authority.

The release date of the cryptocurrency therefore still remains uncertain. Last October, Telegram had already had to resolve to postpone the launch in spring 2020 (April 30), that is to say several months late.

By winter 2018, the publisher of the popular secure messaging service had lifted $ 1.7 billion during two private Simple Agreement for Future Tokens ICOs. 2.9 billion GRAM tokens were sold to 171 investors, including nearly a third resident in the United States, effectively justifying SEC intervention.