Telegram's ICO

Popular instant messaging app Telegram has just completed the second round of its Initial Coin Offering (ICO). It has been reported that the company made around USD 850 million which was roughly the same amount that was raised earlier this year in (January 29th and February 13th) in the first round of its Initial Coin Offering (ICO)

https://pixabay.com/en/internet-whatsapp-smartphone-3113279/

The folks at Telegram plan to use the generated funds to improve the current Telegram app as well as to develop their own blockchain platform named Telegram Open Network (TON). It is said that the proposed Telegram Open Network would be one that uses an ecosystem which is similar to Ethereum. It will consist of apps, services, and a store for digital and physical goods.

According to their white paper, bitcoin is essentially “digital gold” while Ethereum has facilitated token crowd sales. However, there is a gap in the crypto world because no standard cryptocurrency currently caters to the everyday exchange needs of ordinary people. According to them, there is no “truly mass-market cryptocurrency”.

In order to fulfil this need, Telegram Open Network (TON) will facilitated the adoption of crypto currency by the mainstream market. They cited the following as the requirements to make this happen
“Speed and scalability that allows for processing millions of transactions per second and accommodating hundreds of millions of active users and millions of applications.
Intuitive user interfaces that enable an average user to easily buy, store, and transfer value, as well as use decentralized apps in a natural way.
An engaged user base that serves as the pre-existing critical mass necessary for the ecosystem to grow and eventually become adopted by hundreds of millions of users”
https://icorating.com/upload/whitepaper/gNQ7e9z3lCGi519Wz8mmC0Kg8aA0goeZKAQ802vo.pdf
Telegram’s ICO was one of the most anticipated in the crypto world, and after raising a combined amount of USD 1.3billion, it is well on its way to being the largest ICO we have seen.

In my opinion, Telegram seems to hit the nail on the head here. Cryptos need to see increased mainstream adoption. Looking at the news from the past week with South Korea’s Wonder paying people using bitcoin and the report of some Energy companies in Europe using blockchain technology, it looks like mainstream adoption is currently on its way to being a reality.

Sources
https://icorating.com/upload/whitepaper/gNQ7e9z3lCGi519Wz8mmC0Kg8aA0goeZKAQ802vo.pdf

https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/21/17037606/telegram-open-network-app-ico-cryptocurrency-ton
https://cryptonews.com/exclusives/the-encrypted-story-of-the-largest-ico-in-history-1259.htm