Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of major encrypted messenger Telegram, argues that Apple’s cloud service iCloud is “now officially a surveillance tool.” Citing a Jan. 21 Reuters report, Durov claimed that applications like WhatsApp — which rely on iCloud to store private messages — are “part of the problem.” Telegram CEO delivered his verdict in a post on his official Telegram channel on Jan. 21: “iCloud is now officially a surveillance tool. Apps that are relying on it to store your private messages (such as WhatsApp) are part of the problem.” Apple dropped its end-to-end encryption plans for iCloud two …

The Blockchain Association has filed an amicus curiae brief in response to litigation against Telegram initiated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Blockchain Association, a collective of advocates involved with the blockchain industry, filed an amicus curiae brief with the court of the Southern District of New York on Jan. 21. An amicus curiae is an entity that does not participate in specific litigation, but has a right to advise the court regarding some matter of law directly concerning the lawsuit. Need for more clarity from the SEC In the letter, the association disputes the charges …

The Chamber of Digital Commerce has filed an amicus brief in the ongoing court case between encrypted messenger service Telegram and the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). Filed on Jan. 21, the document was authored by Lilya Tessler, a partner and the New York head of Sidley Austin LLP, counsel to the Chamber. In the amicus brief — a legal document that allows a non-litigant to submit its expertise or opinion in a case — the Chamber makes a number of arguments regarding how the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York should consider digital assets. …

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov gave a deposition regarding the company’s alleged violation of United States securities law by conducting $1.7 billion Gram token sale in 2018. In line with a relevant court order, the deposition was held on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8 before a court reporter designated by the court reporting service engaged by plaintiff represented by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). SEC uses the 18-hour deposition to continue grill Telegram on how it spent $1.7 billion According to the official transcript document, the deposition was held in Dubai and involved Telegram lawyer Alexander Drylewski and …

As the SEC lawsuit against Telegram Open Network (TON) forced it to postpone mainnet launch, working blockchain explorers are already available for the testnet. Blockchair announced the creation of a user-friendly alternative to Telegram’s own explorer. A stalled launch has not stopped blockchain explorers In 2018, TON raised more than $1.7 billion in a private initial coin offering (ICO). On a technological level, it aims to replace Bitcoin and Ethereum by featuring a transaction throughput that is reportedly competitive with Visa and MasterCard. As per its white paper, it will be a Proof-of-Stake network employing sharding technology to achieve high …

The District Court for the Southern District of New York has denied a request by the United States’ securities regulator to make Telegram reveal its bank records. According to a Jan. 6 court order signed by Judge P. Kevin Caste, the court has denied an application by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to “compel the production of defendant’s bank records.” Telegram must prove that its bank records comply with data privacy laws The new court decision refers to a Jan. 2 application by the SEC to compel Telegram to share the details of how the firm spent $1.7 …

Telegram’s Gram, the native cryptocurrency for the Telegram Open Network (TON), is not an investment product, the firm stressed in a fresh public statement. In a Jan. 6 blog post, Telegram emphasized that Grams should not be associated with expectations for profits based on purchase or holding of the token. Such an expectation usually defines a security. In the United States, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) governs the sale of securities, and their recent actions against Telegram’s offering of its Gram token assume that Grams fall within the commission’s purview. Grams are instead designed to serve as a “medium of …

Amid news of its recent spat with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, relatively few people have likely heard about Telegram’s Open Network competition that occurred some weeks ago. It was a milestone event that transformed the once-miniscule TON developer community writing in Fift (TON’s general-purpose programming language), which differs greatly from common languages due to its low-level approach. The contest attracted new developers, further built a community around the new platform, and solved existing issues concerning the lack of documentation on smart contracts by providing examples of them and how they are deployed on TON. My team, Button …

Two global financial giants, BNY Mellon and Credit Suisse, were reportedly involved in Telegram’s $1.7 billion Gram (GRAM) token sale in 2018. Telegram allegedly informed its investors that it was using BNY Mellon and Credit Suisse to move and store fiat currency raised in the GRAM sale, industry publication Coindesk reports, citing court filings released on Dec. 10. A Telegram employee reveals the details in a series of messages attached to the filings Shyam Parekh, a Telegram employee who is expected to give a deposition before the New York Southern District Court today, Dec. 10, reportedly provided details on how …

Encrypted messaging service Telegram has asked the New York Southern District Court to throw out accusations by United States regulators that its in-house cryptocurrency is a security. In a fresh filing on Nov. 12, Telegram’s lawyers did not mince their words as they accused the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of abandoning just practice in its criticisms. Telegram: SEC “adopted ad hoc legal position” The SEC had previously argued Telegram was engaging in the sale of unregistered securities when it sold its GRAM tokens to vetted investors. Despite the pressure, investors rejected a refund of money paid. The filing …

Telegram’s crypto wallet Grams Wallet is now available for MacOS, Windows and Ubuntu in testing mode, with the source code published on GitHub. Grams Wallet users can get test tokens Users can now download the test wallet client from its website, create an address and receive private keys as well as request and test Gram tokens in the app via a special Telegram bot called TestTonBot. Specifically, TestTonBot invites users to test out the service by requesting 5 to 20 tokens to the generated crypto address on the app. After users request a specific amount of tokens, the bot notifies …

Telegram’s ongoing saga with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission isn’t ending anytime soon. After the regulatory body swooped in with a last minute restraining order, Telegram has been embroiled in an increasingly strenuous legal battle to get the Telegram Online Network (TON) over the line. The blistering pace at which the latest developments have occured shows no sign of slowing, with the court hearing pushed back to February 2020 and investors voting against a refund of up to 77% of their initial investment. Since the hammer of the SEC came down on Oct. 16, the rights of TON investors …