Former Telegram Investment Advisor SEC Testimony

The US Securities and Exchange Commission claims that Pavel Durov's company knew about the existenceAftermarket Gram. This is one of the key arguments of the financial regulator in favor of recognizing a token as a security.

In a new letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission andThe United States Stock Exchange (SEC), directed to the New York State District Court, said the regulator had obtained testimony from former Telegram investment adviser John Hyman. The letter contains excerpts from Hyman’s testimony, the full version is not publicly available, Vedomosti writes.

SEC states advisor confirms positionof the regulator: in 2018, Gram investment contracts were sold not only to TON platform investors, but also to underwriters. Thus, the Commission wants to prove that the token has the properties of a security.

The founders of the blockchain project went through the procedureRegulation D, which provides that investors will not directly or indirectly resell them until the platform is officially launched. However, the Gram secondary market was formed almost immediately.

In mid-January, the SEC reported that Hymanregularly asked investors about the implementation of Gram in the secondary market. He sent this information to Pavel Durov and vice president of Telegram development Ilya Perekopsky.

Consideration of a claim by the Securities Commission andUS exchanges in the case of ICO Telegram will be held on February 19. At this point, another US financial regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), should express its opinion on whether Gram tokens are a security or a “commodity”.

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