Liquid Cryptocurrency Exchange to Host Public Phase of Telegram ICO

Cryptocurrency exchange Liquid will be the first to host encrypted messaging app Telegram’s Gram tokens when they go on public sale, a press release confirmed on June 11.

Telegram, which has not provided an official statement on the move, became the focus of international attention last year when it held a private initial coin offering (ICO) for Gram, which raised $1.7 billion for its Telegram Open Network (TON) project.

At the time, it was thought no public phase would follow, but the largest Gram holder organization, Gram Asia, will now offer an undisclosed number before a full sale in October.

“We share the vision for a more secure and open value transfer system in order to enable the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies,” Liquid CEO, Mike Kayamori, commented in the press release. He added:

“The TON Blockchain infrastructure can help enhance Telegram’s current capabilities as a peer to peer network of value, with the launch of their cryptocurrency light wallets for Telegram’s highly engaged user base.”

The requirements for participation in the initial public sale are stringent. A raft of countries’ citizens are excluded for regulatory reasons, while grams will not in fact be tradeable, instead held in stablecoin USDC until October.

The move comes roughly two weeks after Telegram released a testnet version of the TON client, which itself follows an extensive development process and the Q3 launch date.