Digital asset custodian of software firm Anchor Labs has stated that it became the first entity qualified to support institutional custody for Telegram’s Gram (GRM) token. Gram to launch on Oct. 31 Anchorage Trust Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of California-based Anchor Labs, will be the first entity that will enable institutional investors and organizations to hold Gram tokens at launch on Oct. 31, the company’s co-founder and president Diogo Monica announced on Oct. 7. Not registered with the SEC In the blog post, the firm stated that the services will be offered either through Anchorage Trust Company or Anchorage …

Encrypted messaging service Telegram will launch its long-awaited Telegram Open Network (TON) in late October. In an Oct. 2 message in the official TON Board on Telegram, the firm states that original investors were informed that the blockchain network would launch later this month. Investors are provided with TON key generation software and will be required to provide Telegram with a public key to receive their Gram (GRM) tokens — the platform’s native token — by Oct. 16th. The entire source code for TON is now available on Github. The message states that the launch follows a successful testing stage. …

Fraudulent advertisements have reportedly begun circulating Facebook offering to join the Telegram Open Network (TON) investment platform. As Russian news outlet Kommersant reported on Sept. 20, ads promoting the so called “Successful Investor” account appeared on Facebook. Once clicked, the ad leads to a website disguised as Russian economics and technology media outlet RBC, where a publication — which looks like an investigation article — has built-in links to a site with a video featuring a “unique scheme” of earnings and a form for registration supposedly for the TON platform. After users divulge their email address and telephone number, the …

The encrypted instant messaging service Telegram has released the Telegram Open Network (TON) testnet explorer and node software. Telegram token due in two months On Sept. 6, Telegram released its Telegram Open Network (TON) testnet explorer and node software on its website, two months ahead of its planned launch of the Gram digital currency. As Cointelegraph reported on Aug. 28, three anonymous investors in Telegram’s $1.7 billion private initial coin offering had said that Telegram confirmed it would issue the first Gram tokens by October. The investors added at the time that the long-term goal for executives is to make …

Telegram Open Network’s (TON) blockchain will allow developers to port their Ethereum (ETH) smart contracts. As industry news outlet CoinDesk reported on Aug. 30, software startup TON Labs managed by Telegram’s token offering investors is building a Solidity compiler for its blockchain. This programming language is primarily used to develop smart contracts in the Ethereum network. Assembly might be required Per the report, the tool would allow developers to port their Ethereum smart contracts over to TON, but it is not specified whether some changes in their code would be required. TON Labs CEO and managing partner Alexander Filatov told …

Telegram Open Network’s (TON) blockchain public testing will launch on Sept. 1, according to one of the investors. On Aug. 28, Russian news outlet Vedomosti quoted an anonymous TON investor claiming to have learned this information from the development team, and the head of one of the companies that participated in the testing so far. According to the outlet’s sources, TON’s node software and all relevant documentation would be released to the public on Sept. 1. This first version of the blockchain is already expected to feature sharding and various functional consensus mechanisms, the source added. A blockchain that was …

Non-custodial and multi-cryptocurrency wallet provider Button Wallet is launching a free testing service on the Telegram Open Network (TON) in a bid to drive crypto adoption among Telegram’s 300 million users. The client application is offering a giveaway 6.6 testnet GRAM tokens — the native currency of Telegram’s TON blockchain platform — for users that activate its wallet, Forbes reported on Aug. 26. Onboarding a TON of people Alex Safonov — Button Wallet’s co-founder and CEO — has said the GRAM token giveaway aims to encourage adoption by giving users the practical experience of transacting digital assets without risk. He …

Last month, Facebook rocked the world with its blockbuster Libra announcement. Even a year ago, the idea that an iconic United States company would launch a digital currency or that a sitting president would tweet about it seemed insane. Welcome to the new normal. The Libra announcement sent politicians scrambling, hit the mainstream media like a hurricane, and left many crypto influencers wondering if the social network giant just turned 90% of altcoins worthless. What tiny crypto project with a few dozen programmers can stand against the combined might of not just Facebook but also the titans of the tech …

Since the beginning of 2018, rumors and then news about some large players entering the blockchain industry mesmerized the crypto community. Presently, the projects promoted by JPMorgan Chase, Facebook and Telegram are at the testnet level, but the companies have disclosed more accurate information about them. The differences among the three projects are enormous — their aims, business models, technology, etc. Some similarities exist, nevertheless. However, with diversified feelings toward these projects, the community pointed out the challenges that they have introduced to the industry. This time, the proposal for a new cryptocurrency is not coming from an adventurous startup …

South Korea’s Gram Asia is selling rights to its Gram holdings at $4.00 per token starting July 10, according to a report by Bloomberg on July 3. The proposed sale price is triple the original $1.33 sale price at Gram’s second initial coin offering (ICO) round in March 2018. The sale on July 10 is apparently happening exclusively through Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid, as per its website. Liquid also hosted the Gram ICO in March, at which time Telegram raised $850 million, bringing its total valuation up to $1.7 billion. Citing an email from the exchange, Bloomberg reports that users …

Recently, new materials surfaced about the lite client for the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain, powered by encrypted instant messaging service Telegram. Based on the content of these documents, it is possible to make a lot of assumptions about its future, especially in regard to comparing TON with competitors — such as the Cosmos network, Polkadot and Ethereum 2.0 — as well as the overall impact of the blockchain ecosystem. Polkadot, Cosmos and TON will definitely compete for users and developers. Moreover, in 2019, every blockchain really needs to have a lot of use cases built on it in order …

A new report on the Telegram Open Network (TON) by Russian research agency Aton — published today, June 14, on Cointelegraph — reveals new details about one of the most anticipated projects in the crypto space. TON is a blockchain platform developed by encrypted instant messaging service Telegram, which is widely regarded as one of the primary means of communication within the blockchain and crypto community. The blockchain network reportedly aims to gain wide usage due to the active, crypto-friendly Telegram community. According to the report, TON will facilitate internal payments, host decentralized applications (DApps) and provide wallet services, among …