Telegram settles with SEC! Required to pay a $18.5 million fine and must notify before issuing any tokens within three years

The blockchain project TON, which has been closely followed by the crypto community on Telegram, announced its shutdown after raising nearly $1.7 billion in 2018. The project's failure has had a significant impact, especially on long-awaiting investors. After facing a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and enduring a 6-month legal battle, a settlement was finally reached on June 11. Telegram founder Pavel Durov has also committed to repaying the remaining funds.

According to court documents released, Telegram is required to pay a fine of $18.5 million. In addition, they must notify the SEC in advance if they plan to directly or indirectly issue any form of cryptocurrency or use any digital assets based on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) within the next three years.

The SEC found the judgment result to be fair, while Telegram's founder Pavel Durov emphasized in Telegram's channel that Telegram commits to refund the remaining funds to investors. He also hopes for a more favorable investment environment for blockchain in the United States in the future. The statement reads:

I mentioned in May that there was an update on the U.S. court case involving Telegram. The good news is that it has finally concluded, and we have reached a settlement with U.S. regulators. Here is Telegram's official statement on today's news: Unfortunately, due to the court's injunction, we were unable to launch the TON platform by the deadline, so we must return the remaining funds to buyers according to our contract agreements.

As we believe that further litigation is not worth the value, we welcome providing a solution to the matter where we can take responsibility. The proposed settlement today once again confirms our commitment to refunding the remaining funds to buyers as per the purchase agreement. We have repaid over $1.2 billion directly or in the form of debt to buyers. We look forward to continuing to create other projects and innovations and hope that the regulatory environment for blockchain technology in the United States will be more favorable to others in the future.