The instant messaging company Telegram has finally given up on its blockchain project, as it surrendered the court battle against the US SEC. Telegram withdrew its appeal against a ban imposed by the US regulator on its TON blockchain project’s tokens. The encrypted messaging giant withdrew the appeal in a court filing with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on May 22. The filing states, “The parties in the above-referenced case have filed a stipulation withdrawing this appeal pursuant to Local Rule 42.1.”
Telegram had lodged an appeal against the court’s order in March.
Telegram lodged the appeal back in March after Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York ordered the company to halt its plans of issuing the Gram token. The court ruled in favor of the SEC, which had argued that the Gram tokens were unregistered securities. The court also ruled that Telegram can not issue tokens even outside the United States as it would create an opportunity for US citizens to buy those tokens. This appeal has now come to an end, with the withdrawal warranting a dismissal of the case without prejudice.
Pave Durov blamed the US court for the end of TON.
The founder and the CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov, had blamed the US court for the end of the TON project before seeing a day’s light. Telegram founder blasting at the US court said that the people outside the US, can vote for their presidents and elect their parliaments, but they still depend on the US when it comes to technology and finance. Pavel Durov claimed that TON had the potential to revolutionize how people store and transfer funds and information. He described the motive behind TON as ultimate decentralization and said that it does not sit well with the US regulators. Telegram had raised over $1.7 billion in two private sales for TON back in 2018.
