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The Open Platform (TOP), the main application developer of Telegram’s blockchain project TON (The Open Network), has completed a $28.5 million Series A investment round at a valuation of $1 billion, according to Fortune.
The investment round was led by fintech-focused Ribbit Capital, while Pantera Capital, one of the leading investment funds in the cryptocurrency space, also participated.
In exchange for investment, a 5% stake in the company was transferred, and no cryptocurrency was allocated in the process. TOP founder and CEO Andrew Rogozov stated that the company has raised over $70 million in total funds to date.
TOP, which is in the TON blockchain ecosystem with close ties to Telegram, also stands out as the team behind the application’s main wallet, “Telegram Wallet.” The company aims to bring the wallet, which has been available for use in Russia, Asia and other regions via Telegram, to the US and European markets with the new funding.
CEO Rogozov pointed out that especially compliance and operational infrastructures bring huge costs in this expansion process and said that the new investment will play a critical role in these areas.
The new investment will be used not only for geographical expansion, but also for the development of TON-based blockchain games and AI projects. The company's long-term vision is to create a comprehensive application ecosystem running on TON.
Ribbit Capital and Pantera Capital, which participated in the investment, said they see Telegram’s global user base of over 1 billion as a huge opportunity. “The opportunity to support revolutionary technology and financial products that can reach a billion people is exciting,” said Ryan Barney, partner at Pantera Capital.
Telegram sold $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrencies for its TON project in 2018. However, it was forced to halt the project in 2020 following a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As part of the settlement reached with the SEC, Telegram returned $1.2 billion to investors and paid a fine of $18.5 million.
After these developments, Telegram seemingly distanced itself from the project, but the development of technology continued in the background. In 2023, Telegram announced the new version of TON as the official blockchain network, and in the same year, the TOP company was officially established in the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi).
*This is not investment advice.