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Telegram has been locked in a fierce legal battle with the US SEC, which wants to block the company's initial coin offering and halt the launch of its Telegram Open Network, or TON, blockchain. But that hasn't stopped the social network from pushing ahead with the technical details of its project. On Feb. 3, Telegram issued the latest version of its whitepaper for its TON blockchain.

A U.S. judge ordered messaging platform Telegram to refrain from issuing its gram cryptocurrency next month as planned, granting a request by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In a preliminary injunction dated March 24, U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel, of the Southern District of New York, said the SEC had demonstrated a plausible case that Telegram had sold unregistered securities. The regulator sued Telegram in October 2019, alleging the company violated federal law when it raised nearly $2 billion in a 2018 token sale.

Telegram filed a response to the SEC writing that the SEC's emergency injunction is unwarranted. Telegram is asking a federal court to deny the regulator's motion to enforce a subpoena. Further, Telegram argued its upcoming gram token is not a security, and the SEC should not be able to force the company to produce documents or witnesses about its blockchain project

Telegram has told its token investors that they are "surprised and disappointed that the SEC chose to file the lawsuit." Telegram says it has tried to communicate with the regulator and solicit feedback over the past 18 months regarding its TON blockchain project. In its suit, the SEC said it asked Telegram to respond to an administrative subpoena and it refused to do so. In part because of this refusal, the SEC said that it had no choice but to file suit.

Telegram will pay $18.5 million and notify the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if it plans to issue any sort of digital currency in the next three years in a proposed settlement with the securities regulator. The settlement ends a six-month court fight with the agency, and also indicates the messaging platform will be responsible for a $1.22 billion disgorgement that is offset by $1.19 billion paid as "termination amounts" in investors' purchase agreements and the amounts that some investors loaned to Telegram earlier this year. Telegram has 30 days to pay the SEC penalty and up to four years to pay back investors under the settlement.

Telegram has hit 400 million unique monthly users, but due to an ongoing court case with the SEC, users won't have direct access to the Telegram Open Network. If the TON doesn't launch by April 30 its investors are entitled to refunds totalling $1.7 billion

Telegram has said the new digital money will operate with a decentralized structure similar to Bitcoin, so that Telegram will have no control over how and where the coins can move.

Telegram has filed an order of consent agreeing to provide a trove of communications and documentation requested by the U.S. SEC on May 7. The communications concern the distribution of Telegram's Gram tokens and purchase agreements relating to its 2018 ICO. Telegram's consent comes amid the Free Telegram Open Network community's decision to launch a version of the TON blockchain via a 'fork'.

The Telegram Open Network is probably dead. The emergency order stops Telegram from "delivering Grams to any persons, or taking any other steps to effect any unregistered offer or sale of Grams." This is worldwide - not just for the US.

The U.S. SEC filed a court order on January 2 to compel Telegram to release details of how the funds raised in its $1.7 billion Gram token sale, have been spent. The SEC claims that these records are highly relevant to its ongoing case against Telegram, alleging that the ICO constituted an unregistered securities sale.

"To the extent permitted by applicable law, Governmental Authorities, and technology and mobile platforms, the Parent shall use its reasonable endeavours to facilitate the use of Tokens as the principal currency used on Telegram Messenger by building TON Wallets into Telegram Messenger."

The Telegram Open Network (TON) operating system (OS), an end-to-end open-source infrastructure that allows developers and users to work with the TON blockchain, will reportedly soon be available on smartphones and personal computers for mainstream users. TON OS is not an alternative to existing operating systems, but will serve as an add-on for devices, making them able to support blockchain applications. This is despite Telegram's ongoing legal battle against the U.S. SEC. (Telegram is seeking to appeal a U.S. federal court's ruling in favor of the SEC to halt the distribution of the platform's native Gram tokens.)

Telegram will not integrate a crypto wallet into its messaging app, at least until it gets the green light from U.S. regulators. 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.

Telegram might not be the hero we expected - or even the one we wanted - but it may be our last, best hope for a future that doesn't turn into a dystopian nightmare of panopticoins.

Gram digital wallets will be made available to Telegram's 200-300 million global users, and Grams will make it possible to buy and sell other goods on Telegram.

Telegram's long-awaited blockchain, Telegram Open Network, is said to be scheduled to launch Oct. 31, but the yet-to-be-issued gram tokens are already trading in an unauthorized secondary market.

Telegram, the messaging app company currently facing a legal fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its $1.7 billion token sale, revealed more details about the technical specifications underpinning its TON blockchain Wednesday.

Some investors in the Telegram Open Network (TON) are reportedly ready to get their money back. In October, TON investors rejected the option to get around 77% of their money back and agreed to postpone the launch of TON to April 30, 2020.

Encrypted messaging app Telegram has appealed the court decision that effectively killed its attempt to distribute its GRAM tokens based on claims that the TON digital asset was an unregistered security.

Going on the offense with a fresh filing on March 27, the lawyers representing Telegram claim that the preliminary injunction issued by Judge Kevin Castel only applies to US-based purchasers. They were reportedly only 39 participants who bought nearly 1 billion Grams when its $1.7 billion worth ICO raised $424.5 million from a group of US vetted investors.