Following pressure from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Telegram shut down its own cryptocurrency activity in 2020. (SEC). The project, formerly known as the Telegram Open Network (TON), was founded in 2018 by Telegram CEO Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai. After failing to record the $1.7 billion in sales received as part of its pre-Initial Coin Offering, the SEC ordered Telegram to cease sales of Gram, the token associated with the TON blockchain, a year later.
