Telegram raises $850 million in cryptocurrency sale

Telegram has raised $850 million in the first phase of its initial coin offering (ICO), CoinDesk reported.

The company has raised the most funds of any ICO to date, with more tokens expected to be sold during a second-stage public offering.

Telegram said its plans to raise $1.2 billion from its ICO for the development of the TON blockchain.

The TON platform will function as a decentralised application platform and will use a cryptocurrency called Grams.

This cryptocurrency will be integrated into the Telegram Messenger mobile app, allowing users to store and trade Grams using their smartphones.