The messaging app Telegram is planning to send out the first batches of its digital currency, the Gram, within the next two months, according to a New York Times report. A test version of the Gram network will be released within the next two weeks. Gram digital wallets will be made available to Telegram’s 200-300 million global users, and Grams will make it possible to buy and sell other goods on Telegram. Telegram had raised $1.7 billion in early 2018 through its initial coin offering (ICO) through which Telegram promised investors future Grams. Grams need to be delivered to its investors by October 31, or Telegram would have to return the money to investors. Telegram’s ICO documents had said that initially 5 billion Grams will be released to users, NYT had earlier reported. The 81 investors who put in the first $850 million paid 37 cents for each gram. In its second fund-raising round, Telegram charged its 94 investors $1.33/token. Telegram has said that the Gram will operate with a decentralised structure similar to Bitcoin. How will the Gram work? According to the 132-page paper that Telegram had shared with investors in 2018 during its ICO, it is building a virtual currency network called Telegram Open Network, or TON through which users will be able send each other payments even when they are not in the same country. TON will use blockchain to maintain records of the Gram on computers globally. Unlike Bitcoin, TON’s blockchains will reportedly serve as the…
