While popular messaging app Telegram is preparing to launch its Gram cryptocurrency and the wallets that will store them in October, Tone Vays – a widely-followed crypto investor and analyst says he won’t be putting his money in this one.
“I don’t like this token,” he says in an interview published on YouTube. Looking back at last year’s initial coin offering in which Telegram raised a hefty $1.7 billion, he adds: “I think it’s a little scammy – I’m not a fan of what they’re doing.”
The company said last week it was to begin delivery of the “first batches” of the cryptocurrency in the next two months. Indeed, the New York Times reported last week that Telegram faced a hard deadline of October 31 to deliver on Gram, otherwise it would forfeit the $1.7 billion raised to issue the cryptocurrency.
Inventing Money
Telegram’s ICO to produce a digital token – rather than issuing a form of equity to raise funds – is the aspect of the cryptoasset launch that Vays doesn’t like. He adds:
Are they creating money for the world or are they simply monetizing their company? If you're monetizing your company you're supposed to do it through the equity space and give people shares of your company. You're not supposed to invent money in order to make money.
