Telegram Finally Confirms It's Behind TON Blockchain

After raising $1.7 billion last year and maintaining almost complete radio silence since, messaging app Telegram is finally going public with its involvement in the Telegram Open Network (TON).

The first mention of TON and its native gram tokens appeared on Telegram's official website Tuesday morning in the form of a terms of service (ToS) for the token's wallet app. According to the ToS, Telegram will integrate the wallet into the company's flagship messaging app and also offer it as a standalone 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," the document reads.

The wallet is provided by the London-based Telegram FZ-LLC, one of the entities Telegram registered for messaging operations and an official publisher of the Android-based Telegram app.

According to the ToS, Telegram will not keep either personal information of its users nor their public and private keys:

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

The company also states it has no 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 do not have the ability to 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."

This is the first time Telegram has publicly acknowledged the link to TON. Neither the company's CEO, Pavel Durov, nor other company representatives have ever announced the project or commented on it.

So far, only the registration of TON's simple agreement for future tokens (SAFT) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – which listed Telegram, Pavel Durov and his brother Nikolai – had formally linked the company to the blockchain project.

Investors bought the future gram tokens during two closed rounds in February and March of 2018 for a price of 37 cents and $1.33 each, respectively. In early September, the code for TON's blockchain nodes was released and on Oct. 2, investors received emails with links to TON's key generator (so that they can access their actual tokens). The project is scheduled to launch no later than Oct. 31.

Telegram image via Shutterstock