Asia’s biggest Gram whale is selling Telegram tokens, but beware

The tokens from messaging app Telegram’s initial coin offering (ICO) are being offered for public sale. But tread carefully, it’s not as simple as it sounds. In fact, it’s not even Telegram offering the sale.

Asia’s biggest holder of Telegram’s Gram tokens, Gram Asia, will be running the sale through online cryptocurrency trading platform Liquid.com, an announcement reads. The sale is scheduled to take place on July 10, 2019.

Before you start getting excited about finally getting the opportunity to own some Gram, there are a couple of caveats.

Firstly, it should be noted that it’s Gram Asia selling its own reserves of Gram tokens; it has not reached a deal with Telegram. This sale seemingly holds no relationship with the token’s original issuer.

How much each token will cost, or how many Grams will be released to the public has also not been announced. Investors will be able to buy Gram tokens with USD or Coinbase’s stablecoin USDC.

Here’s the second caveat. Those that buy the tokens won’t actually get their coins until October 31, 2019, when the TON (Telegram Open Network) blockchain is expected to launch.

Here’s the real kicker though, Gram tokens won’t even be tradeable, according to TechCrunch. What’s more, Gram Asia isn’t offering the sale in Japan, the US, and a whole host of other countries.

For those that do buy Gram tokens, Gram Asia will transfer them to TON-compatible wallets integrated on Liquid when the TON blockchain officially launches.

Until then, Liquid will hold all the proceeds from the Gram Token sale. It promises to refund investors if TON doesn’t end up launching, but it seems confident that it will.

The announcement from Gram Asia cites two articles that suggest TON is already working, however, there has been no official comment from Telegram, TechCrunch reports. So, how reliable these reports are, remains to be seen.

In 2018, Telegram raised over $1.7 billion, in one of the largest ICOs, where it sold Gram tokens to private accredited investors. One stipulation to participate in Telegram’s ICO was to invest a minimum of $1 million, so it wasn’t your typical token sale.

Indeed, this offering certainly offers Gram tokens to more potential buyers. But keep it in mind, it’s a third-party company selling tokens that don’t exist yet, for a blockchain that is yet to launch.