Another TON Delay: Investors Offered 72% Immediate Refund, 110% in a Year

Encrypted messaging app Telegram has once again missed the deadline to launch its Telegram Open Network (TON), and is now offering its investors a 72% immediate refund or 110% in a year.

Originally, TON was scheduled to launch by late October 2019, but because of its legal battle with the U.S. SEC the project was forced to delay the launch of TON to April 2020. With the project now missing this deadline as well, a refund clause in Telegram’s purchase agreement has gone into effect, which means that investors can now claim a refund amounting to 72% of their stake.

“Accordingly, under the terms of the Purchase Agreement, we owe you the Termination Amount. We are hereby honouring our plan communicated to you in October 2019 to repay 72% of your original investment.”

Now, according Telegram’s letter to investors from 30 April, the company wishes to once again delay the launch of the project, citing a “recent U.S. district court decision”, this time until 30 April 2021. If investors decide to stick with the project for one more year, they will be rewarded with a 110% repayment on that date. The firm has given its investors until the end of this week to decide if they want the immediate 72% refund, or wait 12 months for the 110 cents on the dollar offer.

The letter reads:

“As a token of gratitude for your trust in TON, we are also offering you an alternative option to receive 110% of your original investment by April 30, 2021, which is 53% higher than the Termination Amount.”

The company stated that it will continue to engage the SEC regarding its Gram token and TON, and that if it receives permissions before 30 April 2021, the investors who “opted for the loan will have the further option to receive grams or potentially another cryptocurrency on the same terms as those in their original purchase agreements”. If, by chance, it does not receive permission, the debt will be repaid using equity from the company.

The company noted that its app has around 400 million monthly users, with an organic growth of about 1.5 million sign-ups a day. Being the #1 most downloaded social media app in 27 countries, Telegram believes that its equity value will “exceed the aggregate amount of its potential debt resulting from this offer by at least several times”.