<s>
The	B-Language
Open	I-Language
Network	I-Language
(	O
previously	O
Telegram	B-Language
Open	I-Language
Network	I-Language
,	O
both	O
abb	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
TON	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
blockchain-based	O
decentralized	O
computer	B-Architecture
network	I-Architecture
technology	O
,	O
originally	O
developed	O
by	O
the	O
Telegram	B-Application
team	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2020	O
,	O
Telegram	B-Application
withdrew	O
from	O
the	O
project	O
after	O
litigation	O
with	O
the	O
US	O
Securities	O
and	O
Exchange	O
Commission	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Telegram	B-Application
messenger	I-Application
in	O
2013	O
,	O
its	O
CEO	O
Pavel	O
Durov	O
emphasized	O
that	O
instant	B-Application
messenger	I-Application
will	O
not	O
include	O
advertising	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
documents	O
related	O
to	O
U.S.	O
Securities	O
and	O
Exchange	O
Commission	O
(	O
SEC	O
)	O
v	O
.	O
Telegram	B-Application
suit	O
(	O
2020	O
)	O
,	O
by	O
2017	O
,	O
the	O
self-funded	O
startup	O
needed	O
money	O
to	O
pay	O
for	O
servers	O
and	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
mid-December	O
2017	O
Bloomberg	O
interview	O
,	O
Durov	O
announced	O
that	O
Telegram	B-Application
would	O
begin	O
monetization	O
in	O
early	O
2018	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
TechCrunch	O
had	O
soon	O
confirmed	O
that	O
the	O
company	O
planned	O
launch	O
a	O
blockchain	B-Application
project	O
named	O
“	O
The	B-Language
Open	I-Language
Network	I-Language
”	O
or	O
“	O
Telegram	B-Language
Open	I-Language
Network	I-Language
”	O
(	O
TON	O
)	O
and	O
its	O
native	O
cryptocurrency	O
“	O
Gram	O
”	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
documents	O
,	O
the	O
Durovs	O
planned	O
to	O
attract	O
the	O
existing	O
Telegram	B-Application
user	O
base	O
to	O
TON	O
and	O
promote	O
the	O
mass	O
adoption	O
of	O
cryptocurrencies	O
,	O
turning	O
it	O
into	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
largest	O
blockchains	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
TON	O
was	O
described	O
as	O
a	O
platform	O
for	O
decentralized	O
apps	O
and	O
services	O
akin	O
to	O
WeChat	B-Application
,	O
Google	B-Application
Play	I-Application
,	O
or	O
App	B-Application
Store	I-Application
,	O
or	O
even	O
a	O
decentralized	O
alternative	O
to	O
payment	O
processing	O
services	O
of	O
Visa	O
and	O
MasterCard	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
ability	O
to	O
scale	O
and	O
support	O
millions	O
of	O
transactions	O
per	O
second	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
codebase	O
for	O
TON	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
Nikolai	O
Durov	O
,	O
the	O
developer	O
of	O
Telegram	B-Application
's	O
MTProto	O
protocol	O
,	O
and	O
Pavel	O
became	O
the	O
public	O
figure	O
for	O
the	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
fund	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
messenger	O
and	O
the	O
blockchain	B-Application
project	O
,	O
Telegram	B-Application
attracted	O
investments	O
through	O
a	O
private	O
Gram	O
offering	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
futures	O
were	O
only	O
sold	O
to	O
accredited	O
investors	O
,	O
the	O
offering	B-Application
was	O
exempt	O
from	O
registration	O
as	O
securities	O
under	O
Regulation	O
D	O
of	O
the	O
Securities	O
Act	O
of	O
1933	O
,	O
on	O
the	O
basis	O
that	O
once	O
TON	O
was	O
operational	O
,	O
the	O
Grams	O
would	O
have	O
utility	O
and	O
would	O
not	O
be	O
considered	O
securities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
offering	B-Application
ran	O
in	O
two	O
rounds	O
,	O
each	O
taking	O
in	O
$850	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Russian	O
tech	O
news	O
site	O
calculated	O
the	O
first	O
round	O
as	O
offering	B-Application
2.25	O
billion	O
tokens	O
at	O
$0.38	O
each	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
minimum	O
purchase	O
of	O
$20	O
million	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
second	O
as	O
offering	B-Application
640	O
million	O
tokens	O
at	O
$1.33	O
each	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
minimum	O
purchase	O
of	O
$1	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
spring	O
2018	O
,	O
the	O
only	O
official	O
sources	O
of	O
information	O
were	O
the	O
two	O
Forms	O
D	O
that	O
Telegram	B-Application
filed	O
with	O
the	O
U.S.	O
Securities	O
and	O
Exchange	O
Commission	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
the	O
company	O
released	O
the	O
lite	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
TON	O
blockchain	B-Application
network	O
client	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
the	O
company	O
released	O
the	O
complete	O
source	O
code	O
for	O
TON	O
nodes	O
on	O
GitHub	B-Application
,	O
making	O
it	O
possible	O
to	O
launch	O
a	O
full	O
node	O
and	O
explore	O
the	O
testnet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SEC	O
had	O
concerns	O
about	O
Gram	O
private	O
sale	O
and	O
contacted	O
Telegram	B-Application
shortly	O
after	O
,	O
but	O
over	O
the	O
18	O
months	O
of	O
communication	O
,	O
the	O
sides	O
did	O
n't	O
come	O
to	O
an	O
understanding	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
a	O
lengthy	O
legal	O
battle	O
between	O
Telegram	B-Application
and	O
the	O
SEC	O
,	O
Judge	O
P	O
.	O
Kevin	O
Castel	O
of	O
the	O
U.S.	O
District	O
Court	O
for	O
the	O
Southern	O
District	O
of	O
New	O
York	O
agreed	O
with	O
the	O
SEC	O
's	O
vision	O
that	O
the	O
sale	O
of	O
Grams	O
,	O
the	O
distribution	O
to	O
initial	O
purchasers	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
highly	O
likely	O
future	O
resale	O
should	O
be	O
viewed	O
as	O
a	O
single	O
"	O
scheme	O
"	O
to	O
distribute	O
Grams	O
to	O
the	O
secondary	O
market	O
in	O
an	O
unregistered	O
security	O
offering	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
restrictions	O
on	O
Gram	O
distribution	O
remained	O
in	O
force	O
for	O
purchasers	O
based	O
in	O
and	O
outside	O
U.S.	O
,	O
as	O
Telegram	B-Application
had	O
no	O
tools	O
to	O
prevent	O
U.S.	O
citizens	O
from	O
purchasing	O
Grams	O
on	O
the	O
secondary	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
the	O
court	O
decision	O
,	O
the	O
Telegram	B-Language
Open	I-Language
Network	I-Language
team	O
announced	O
that	O
they	O
would	O
be	O
unable	O
to	O
launch	O
the	O
project	O
by	O
the	O
expected	O
30	O
April	O
2020	O
deadline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
12	O
May	O
2020	O
,	O
Pavel	O
Durov	O
announced	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
Telegram	B-Application
's	O
active	O
involvement	O
with	O
TON	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
June	O
11	O
,	O
Telegram	B-Application
settled	O
with	O
SEC	O
U.S.	O
Securities	O
&	O
Exchange	O
Commission	O
and	O
agreed	O
to	O
return	O
$1.22	O
billion	O
as	O
"	O
termination	O
amounts	O
"	O
in	O
Gram	O
purchase	O
agreements	O
,	O
and	O
pay	O
an	O
$18.5	O
million	O
penalty	O
to	O
SEC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2020	O
,	O
Telegram	B-Application
repaid	O
TON	O
investors	O
$770	O
million	O
and	O
converted	O
$443	O
million	O
into	O
a	O
one-year	O
debt	O
at	O
10%	O
interest	O
,	O
raising	O
its	O
total	O
liabilities	O
to	O
$625.7	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
May	O
2020	O
,	O
when	O
Telegram	B-Application
's	O
commitment	O
to	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
unclear	O
,	O
other	O
projects	O
started	O
to	O
develop	O
the	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Launched	O
on	O
May	O
7	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
Free	O
TON	O
is	O
a	O
project	O
to	O
continue	O
development	O
of	O
Telegram	B-Language
Open	I-Language
Network	I-Language
technology	O
using	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
freely	O
available	O
under	O
GNU	B-License
GPL	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
Of	O
five	O
billion	O
tokens	O
issued	O
at	O
the	O
moment	O
of	O
launch	O
,	O
85%	O
were	O
reserved	O
for	O
users	O
,	O
5%	O
for	O
validators	O
,	O
and	O
10%	O
for	O
the	O
developers	O
(	O
including	O
5%	O
dedicated	O
for	O
TON	O
Labs	O
,	O
the	O
developer	O
of	O
TON	O
OS	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
for	O
TON	O
blockchain	B-Application
,	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
essential	O
part	O
of	O
Free	O
TON	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
