Telegram Finally Acknowledges Its Connection With TON Blockchian​

The cloud-based messaging app, Telegram, has finally acknowledged its involvement in the Telegram Open Network (TON). After the silence, they maintained after raising $1.7 billion last year.

TON and its native gram tokens made an appearance on Telegram’s official website Tuesday morning via terms of service (ToS) for the token’s wallet app. ToS claims that Telegram has plans on integrating the wallet into the company’s flagship messaging app. It will also offer it as a separate product.

“We have no control over the TON Blockchain network and therefore cannot ensure that any transaction details that you submit via the Services will be validated and confirmed on the TON Blockchain,” is what the document mentions.

London-based Telegram FZ-LLC, one of the entities Telegram registered for messaging operations, is the provider of the wallet. Telegram FZ-LLC is also an official publisher of the Android-based Telegram app.

ToS further specifies that any of the user’s personal information, public or private keys will not be under Telegram’s control, nor are they keeping it.  

“You are solely responsible for managing and maintaining the security of your Credentials. If you lose your Credentials, we will not be able to recover your Credentials or assist you in retrieving your Credentials, and you may not be able to access your Grams.”

It is also mentioned by the company that it would have zero control over processing and verifying the transactions on TON. According to the ToS:

“The transactions you submit via the Services may not be completed or may be substantially delayed by the TON Blockchain. We have no control over the TON Blockchain and cannot facilitate any cancellation or modification requests to transactions you have submitted. A fee may be imposed on your transaction by the TON Blockchain. We have no control over the amount or type of such fees.”

It is the first public acknowledgment that Telegram has made mentioning its connection with TON. Pavel Durov, the company’s CEO, had never announced the project nor have the representatives of the company made any comment on it.

It was only the registration of TON’s agreement for future tokens (SAFT) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – which listed Telegram, Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai – that provided an official link of the company to the blockchain project.

Investors purchased the future gram tokens for a price of 37 cents and $1.33 each during two final rounds in February and March of 2018. 

It was in September that the release of the code for TON’s blockchain nodes took place, and a month later, the investors received emails with links to TON’s key generator (which would allow them to access their actual tokens). 

They are planning to launch the project by Oct 31st.