SEC sues Telegram for distribution of Gram tokens among US investors

The SEC announced a lawsuit against Telegram, Inc. and Ton Issuer, Inc. due to the “continuing illegal offering of valuablesecurities in the form of a digital asset called Gram.” According to the SEC, the project's tokens are securities subject to registration requirements under US securities laws.

There are several reasons for this.Firstly, the buyer and subsequent investors expect to make a profit from the work of Telegram, secondly, there are no products or services that can be purchased using Grams, and thirdly, investors expect to make a profit when creating such a Telegram.

As part of the lawsuit, the SEC says that Telegram has committed to flooding the US capital markets with billions of Grams by October 31.

Remember, during a private sale, Telegramraised $ 1.7 billion from 171 investors using a simple agreement for future tokens. The team allegedly used these funds to "capitalize their business and finance the creation of the blockchain."

The SEC reports that $424.5 million in proceeds fromthe sales came from American investors and that the defendants were going to sell more to Americans. This violates the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and entitles them to immediate judgment.

Why is the lawsuit filed in federal court?

This lawsuit was filed with the US federal court. The reason for this may be that (according to the Order of the Court, which was prepared by the SEC), Telegram refused to accept the subpoena from the SEC. If so, it is not surprising that the SEC appealed to the federal court for quick and emergency assistance.

According to one Telegram investor, the company thought it could avoid the SEC by making adjustments to make it more “decentralized.”

The investor, a US resident, said in a telephone callSpeaking to The Block, he expects the SEC's action will lead to an even longer blocking of tokens. He expects the trade will not be sanctioned in the US, but also suggested that Telegram could follow in the footsteps of Blockstack.

However, the investor was disappointed that the SEC discouraged "technological innovation."