Mike Novogratz told how he missed ICO Telegram Open Network due to hesitation

Mike Novogratz, the founder of the Galaxy Digital cryptocurrency trading bank, told The Block how he almost became an investor in the Telegram blockchain project, but missed the right moment because he couldn't decide for a long time.

"I tried to enter at a late stage. All my guys hated them. White paper was bad, but one day I woke up and thought about what I was talking about. They had a world-class CEO. They had 225 million customers at the time. Who needs white paper at all? It's all open source software, you can just copy white paper from someone else. And that's when I called. We talked for a long time. And I was like, "Buddy, I know you closed the first round. The first round was 37 cents each. The second round was a buck and a quarter. I thought it was crazy. I said, "Wait a minute, but your company costs 4 times more.

Answering a question about how he contacted the ICO TON organizers, while many large investors were left out of business and the campaign was conducted in an environment of heightened secrecy, Novogratz said: "They called me 15-20 times, trying to entice me. And I said that my guys hate this offer.

Three weeks later, Novogratz changed his mind, but it was too late: "He says, 'Buddy, I can't help you. I thought it was funny because it was the first time I'd seen the cryptocurrency industry grow a little bit bigger. All other deals could always be entered into, even if they were already closed, because we had a big name. I was going to write a giant check from myself and a big investor, but that guy said he had a limit and they didn't take anyone else. "But I'm happy to give you a lot in the second round," he said.

The entrepreneur also noted that it will be interesting to observe TON trading, as the market has experienced a significant decline in currency since the Tokensale market. "I admire watching Telegram because they have 280 million customers. Let's see what they offer and how quickly people will accept it," he added.