How Telegram's Crypto Coins May Attract $2.6 Billion: QuickTake
Bitcoin: What’s Coming in the Year Ahead
Cryptocurrency ventures raised about $4 billion last year in initial coin offerings. It was a mad scramble of ICOs that saw companies with a mere scrap of an idea -- and even some that had been formed as jokes -- attract investors and the increasingly skeptical attention of regulators around the world. Now, Telegram Group Inc., the messaging service registered in the British Virgin Islands, is in the midst of the biggest ICO ever. It anticipates receiving $2.55 billion in three rounds of funding, according to documents seen by Bloomberg.
Telegram’s differences with most other ICOs go well beyond size. It’s a provider of encrypted messages that’s already become popular within the cryptocurrency community. It has an established brand, claims over 170 million users and has registered its ICO with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The service has won the trust of users ranging from Islamic State terrorists to French President Emmanuel Macron. Even so, some in the digital-coin world remain skeptical, passing on the offer.