In 2017, Telegram had announced to bring its own cryptocurrency Gram. It had even raised close to $1.7 billion from investors and was supposed to do an Initial Coin Offering in mid-2018 but backed out for reasons unknown.
Now, according to The News York Times, Telegram plans to bring digital Gram wallet for its 200 million-plus app users in a couple of months for cryptocurrency transaction.
It is said that Telegram has to launch the Gram by October 31 or else it will lose $1.7 billion worth investments, which was raised in 2018. Also, even if it does manage to bring Gram, there is a lot of uncertainty over how it will be received by the consumers as most cryptocurrencies are volatile to global markets.
Facebook’s Libra is said to be stable, as each coin generated will be matched by real-world assets such as bank deposit, the US Dollar, Pound, Euro and others securities.
But, Gram doesn’t offer such safety net and its value will be vulnerable to wild swings similar to Bitcoins. For instance, Bitcoin had managed to peak in late December 2017 up to $19,783, but crashed down by 45% in less than a month, below $11,000 per Bitcoin unit.
So, governments are sure to scrutinise Gram cryptocurrency, as they are doing with Facebook’s Libra. Given the circumstances, Telegram is unlikely to have smooth sailing with the Gram.
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