Pavel Durov, founder of messaging app Telegram, revealed plans for an IPO in an interview with Financial Times this week. The news sent The Open Network’s Toncoin (TON) price skyrocketing more than 60%.
Digging deeper: Durov, also revealed to FT that the company has “been offered $30bn-plus valuations” from potential investors including “global late-stage tech funds.”
Recapping: TON, a project launched by Telegram in 2017, began as a $1 billion ICO, but was eventually dropped by Telegram after the SEC took issue with the launch in 2020.
While Telegram eventually had to give all the money back to investors, TON carried on as an independent project. And, while the two companies are supposedly separate, they work together on many projects:
In December 2022, the company auctioned premium usernames using TON Blockchain.
In September 2023, Telegram added a self-custodial crypto wallet to the platform.
Durov’s announcement therefore led to renewed interest in TON, especially with it following an announcement from February, where the company stated it will soon share ad revenue with channel owners, and pay it out exclusively via TON.
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