Telegram is reportedly holding a second secret TON presale
Sources say Telegram expects to raise another $850 million before the public sale even starts.
The Telegram private pre-sale has made it the highest-earning cryptocurrency fund-raising round in history by a large margin, and it hasn't even started the public ICO round yet. It's also reportedly going for a round two before beginning the public "ICO" stage fundraising.
The company reportedly raised US$850 million in the private first round pre-sale, well above its $750 million target, and is now reportedly going for a secret round two, according to The Verge, quoting anonymous sources.
"This week, investors got an email explaining that Telegram is doing another private presale, four sources with knowledge of the deal told The Verge. The exact amount to be raised is still being determined, according to one source, but two other sources said Telegram is estimating it will be around the same size as the first round, which would bring the total raised to over $1.6 billion before the ICO even opens up to the general public."
The Telegram project is controversial though. A writer at Forbes has opined that it's a scam, and says that the more experienced blockchain and cryptocurrency venture capital firms are passing on the offer.
"In the case of the Telegram one there is a lot that is being promised and not a lot of clarity on how that would be delivered," said Christian Catalini of MIT's Cryptoeconomics Lab to The Verge.
Carlos Mosquera of Solidus Capital said that his firm passed on it because Telegram kept offering inconsistent numbers.
"A month and a half ago we got the pitch and the opportunity for Telegram," Mosquera said. "We passed because we received two or three different terms and deals by the same ICO. None of the information was clear."
According to The Verge, the first round of the pre-sale was oversubscribed so it might make sense for Telegram to go for a round two.
"Nowadays the presales are hotter than the crowd sale itself," Mosquera said.
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Disclosure: At the time of writing the author holds ETH, IOTA, ICX, VEN, XLM, NANO, SALT, BTC
