Liquid Cancels Sale of Telegram’s Gram Tokens, Returns Funds to Investors

Liquid Exchange has canceled the sale of Telegram Open Network’s (TON) Gram tokens, according to a Jan. 10 company post. The exchange returned the funds of all investors who participated in the unofficial sale.

The exchange reportedly canceled the sale due to the delay in the launch of TON’s mainnet. At the time of the sale in July 2019, it was believed that the network would be live on Oct. 31. However, the launch was impeded by the SEC’s investigation into the original Gram offering, which it argues was an unregistered sale of securities.

Liquid’s terms of sale stated that all funds were to be returned to the investors in case TON failed to launch by Nov. 30, 2019.

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Liquid’s token sale was in no way affiliated with Telegram. According to Telegram’s terms of sale, participants in the original initial coin offering (ICO) are not allowed to resell or swap the tokens in any way until 18 months after the launch of the network. According to the Liquid ICO page, the tokens were supposed to be delivered in several tranches after TON’s mainnet launch.

Liquid reportedly acted as an agent for Gram Asia, allegedly the largest Gram token holder on the continent. Cointelegraph’s sources close to Telegram noted at the time that it was the first they heard about the organization.

The exchange succeeded in collecting at least $4 million in USDC, contained in an Ethereum wallet disclosed by the company. The funds were moved to Liquid’s hot wallet on Jan. 14, according to Etherscan.

Telegram’s lawsuit with SEC is set to continue, with the regulator recently obtaining crucial evidence against it.