Durov opened a second pre-sale token Telegram [↻50%]

The company can raise another $ 850 million.

Telegram messenger opened the second closed pre-sale of tokens of its not yet announced blockchain system Telegram Open Network (TON), told four sources the Verge. During the first stage, the company raised $ 850 million.

According to two interlocutors of the publication, at the second stage, the company wants to collect another $850 million — thus, the amount collected before the public ICO can grow to $1.7 billion.Telegram Representatives did not respond to the publication's request.

Cryptocurrency investor Carlos Mosquera from the Fund Solidus Capital told The Verge that it received offers to purchase tokens Telegram from several different intermediaries, and the expected discount from the public rates ranged from 30% to 80%. Sources of the publication say that the hype around ICO Telegram is so great that some participants in the closed pre-sale of tokens have already resold their positions at a double price.

Due to additional restrictions for #ICO, which are set by the US authorities, Telegram may close the public sale of tokens for Americans, CNBC interlocutors say. The Verge believes that the second stage of pre-sale will help the company to raise funds from local investors with softer regulation.

Whether the new stage of pre-sale will affect the schedule of the start of the public ICO, which allegedly should take place in March 2018, is unknown. Among the Russian investors, the head of Qiwi Sergey Solonin (he invested $17 million), the founder of "Wimm-bill-Danna" David Yakobashvili ($10 million) and the TMT Investments Fund (the amount is not disclosed) have already announced the participation in the sale of telegram tokens.