Is chat app TELEGRAM and its MEGA-ICO a threat to Steemit?

Chat app Telegram surprised the world when they announced an upcoming ICO aiming at raising $500M. Will it fall short of its goal, like Kik? Or will it be the first breakout ICO of 2018?

And if it does meet that goal, does its Telegram Open Network have Steemit in its sights? Or is it just a money grab? Here are the limited facts we have on the offerings it plans - you decide.

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Source: telegram.org

TON Blockchain: 2^92 blockchain shards, rolled up

Is an 'Infinite Sharding Paradigm' feasible? Can anyone get their hands on this whitepaper so we can see?

TON Services

dApps and smart contracts. Basically Ether functions.

TON DNS

Attaching readable account names to public keys. Nothing new.

TON Payments

Another Paypal. On-chain payments and micropayments. Maybe loans.

Aiming at launching the currency fully by 2019, Telegram seems conservative enough that they might be serious in building this Ethereum-esque platform. But with a chat app successfully under its belt, and successful chat-based apps like Steemit out here, might Telegram pivot to social networks and marketplace applications too?

Source: steemit.com