SEC imposed restrictions on the “illegal” ICO of the TON project from Telegram

The US regulator SEC announced that it was decided to impose temporary restrictions on two offshore companies that are related to the TON project ICO. As part of a series of orders, Telegram representatives lost the opportunity to distribute their tokens to US residents.

Stephanie Avakyan, representative of the SEC, said on the eve that the measures taken by the Commission are aimed at preventing the invasion of Telegram tokens, which were distributed illegally to investors, in the US market.

The SEC noted that the company sold almost 3 billion Gram tokens at a reduced cost to 171 investors located in different parts of the world. 39 of these buyers are residents of the United States – 1 billion tokens from Telegram are distributed between them. According to the financial regulator, Telegram Group Inc., as well as its subsidiary, known as TON Issuer Inc., did not go through the procedure for registering the offer and sale of Gram assets, although they are considered by the regulator as securities.

Avakyan also noted that Telegram did not in any way inform buyers about operations with cryptocurrency, risk factors when interacting with it, and management features, and this is required by local securities legislation.

Recall that a few days ago Telegram presented to the public the rules for using the Grams Wallet wallet, which, as it turned out, will be associated with TON. In addition, by the end of October, the company promised investors to launch the long-awaited network, otherwise everyone will receive their funds back.