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when it was raising funds for its Gram tokens in its $17bn ICO.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, Telegram of Russian self-exiled digital wunderkind Pavel Durov raised $1.7bn last March with one of the most successful ICOs (initial coin offerings) of all time and has used part of the proceeds to develop TON (Telegram Open Network) that has the Gram token at its heart.
But the SEC aimed to block the issue of Grams, and now Telegram has been ordered to refrain from issuing its gram cryptocurrency next month as planned, upon the request of the commission.
“The Court finds that the SEC has shown a substantial likelihood of success in proving
that the contracts and understandings at issue, including the sale of 2.9 billion Grams to 175 purchasers in exchange for $1.7bn, are part
of a larger scheme to distribute those Grams into a secondary public market, which would be supported by Telegram’s ongoing efforts,” the judge wrote.
The decision is a major blow to Telegram that has already had to postpone the launch of TON from October 2019, initially promised to investors, to April 30, 2020. The court ruling also revealed that so far $405mn has been spent on the development of the platform.
Sistema ups stake in Ozon e-retailer to 43%, cash used for logistics
Multi-industry investment conglomerate AFK Systema announced on March 26 it had raised
its stake in Ozon e-commerce major from 21.9% to 31.3%, by converting the convertible loans provided to the company in 2019. The total holding (including System VC stake) increased to 43%.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, Ozon’s valuation improved, and in addition Russian e-commerce majors are seeing a boost in sales amidst the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Since 2018 Ozon has pledged to focus on logistics solutions, and recently reiterated its $300mn investment into the development of logistics solutions in the next 2-3 years.
Sistema commented that investments in the company "have been predominantly used by Ozon to develop its logistical infrastructure," namely doubling its fulfilment capacity to almost 200,000 square metres and investing significantly in the expansion of last-mile delivery infrastructure.
The main shareholder noted that as of the end of 2019, Ozon owned the largest network of parcel lockers in Russia with a total of 6,897 locations. Together with third-party parcel lockers and pickup points, Ozon's total pickup network grew threefold last year to 16,651 locations.