Telegram might be forced to put its global cryptocurrency plans on ice

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has just halted Telegram’s massive—and massively hyped—$2 billion digital token sale.

Those halcyon days: In early 2018, exuberant investors poured billions of dollars into Telegram’s ambitious plan to launch a global cryptocurrency network. In return, they got rights to digital tokens that Telegram, a messaging app with 300 million monthly users, promised would be useful on its future network. That was slated to launch by October 31 of this year.

The news: That initial exuberance has turned to uncertainty. According to the SEC, Telegram Group and a subsidiary company called TON Issuer Inc. conducted an illegal sale of unregistered securities in the US. The defendants sold 2.9 billion digital tokens, called “Grams,” to 171 investors around the world, raising $1.7 billion. Since $425 million worth was sold in the US, the SEC, which is supposed to look out for US investors, was paying attention.

Since the planned network…