Politicians, business tycoons, and celebrities are all optimistic! The list of participants in the private sale round of Telegram tokens has been revealed, with a former Russian cabinet minister also included.

As the lawsuit with the U.S. SEC intensifies, a court document has revealed several Russian celebrities involved in investing in the initial coin offering (ICO) of Telegram, including former Russian cabinet minister Abyzov.

• TON Private Sale List Revealed
• US District Court to Rule on Token Sale Case by April 30

Telegram's Telegram Open Network (TON) network was originally scheduled to launch in October 2019, but the SEC filed a lawsuit against Telegram just weeks before the deadline, alleging that its Gram token sale was not registered, making it an illegal security, and criticizing the token issuance as simply a means of raising funds due to a shortage of funds.

Telegram had previously hired University of Oregon professor Stephen McKeon to conduct research and analysis on the project. A report (this link is no longer valid, please see another related link) attached to McKeon's report listed the ICO investors and the amounts invested, which was submitted by the SEC to the US District Court in January.

Investments from the Sports World: Football Tycoon

The list includes a fund called Norma Investments Limited based in the British Virgin Islands, owned by industrial tycoon and Chelsea Football Club owner Abramovich. According to the document, Norma invested $10 million in TON in the second round of fundraising.

Another investment came from Russian venture capital firm Larnabel Ventures, which invested $15 million in TON in the second round.

Investments from the Political Arena: Russian Cabinet

Batios Holdings Limited is also a fund registered in the British Virgin Islands, with former Russian cabinet minister Abyzov as a director. Abyzov's connection to the fund was brought to light after Russian law enforcement brought embezzlement charges against Abyzov in 2018. Abyzov was previously in charge of digitizing government agencies and has been in prison since March 2019, ending his political career shortly after the Telegram ICO in May 2018.

Investments from the Financial Sector: Financial Institution CEO

Another notable investor in the document is Jan Marsalek, the COO of German payment institution Wirecard, who invested $7 million in TON's token sale in the second round.

A report indicates that Wirecard had previously collaborated with TON developer TON Labs and has been assisting Telegram in developing its test version since March 2019. They agreed to jointly develop digital financial services, payments, and banking platforms with TON Labs.

In addition, Telegram's token sale has attracted many prominent US venture capital firms, including Kleiner Perkins, Benchmark, Sequoia, Lightspeed, Redpoint, Draper Dragon, and Fortress.

Despite being embroiled in legal battles, Telegram continues to focus on developing the TON network. It was previously reported that the ongoing lawsuit did not seem to hinder the continued development on the TON platform, with the release of a new whitepaper and the introduction of the "Catchain" consensus protocol.

It is reported that the US District Court will rule on the case by April 30.

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