According to Fortune, Telegram’s blockchain project Ton (The Open Network)’s main application developer (Open Network) has completed its $28.5 million Series A investment round at a $1 billion valuation.
The investment round was led by fintech-centric ribbit capital, while Pantera Capital, one of the leading investment funds in the cryptocurrency space, also participated.
In exchange for investment, 5% of the company’s shares transferred, and in the process no cryptocurrency was allocated. Top founder and CEO Andrew Rogozov said the company has raised more than $70 million in funding so far.
TOP is located in the Ton Blockchain ecosystem, which has a close relationship with Telegram, and stands out as the team behind the application’s main wallet, “Telegram Wallet.” The company aims to bring wallets that can be used in the US and European markets through Telegram in Russia, Asia and elsewhere through new funding.
CEO Rogozov said compliance and operational infrastructure in particular bring huge costs to this expansion process, and new investments will play a key role in these areas.
The new investment will not only be used to expand geographically, but also to develop ton-based blockchain games and AI projects. The company’s long-term vision is to create a comprehensive application ecosystem that runs on TON.
Ribbit Capital and Pantera Capital, who took part in the investment, said that over 1 billion people in Telegram’s global user base are seen as major opportunities. “The opportunity to support innovative technologies and financial products that can reach 1 billion people is exciting,” said Ryan Barney, a partner at Pantera Capital.
Telegram sold $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency in the 2018 TON project. However, they were forced to suspend the project in 2020 after a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). When part of the settlement reached the SEC, Telegram returned the investors $1.2 billion and paid a $18.5 million fine.
After these developments, Telegram appeared to be at a distance from the project, but the development of the technology continued in the background. In 2023, Telegram announced a new version of Ton as the official blockchain network, and the same year a top company was officially established in the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi).
*This is not investment advice.