Messaging app Telegram is racing to release its 'gram' cryptocurrency by 31 October and fulfil the promise it made to backers, or face giving back $1.7bn in investments. Telegram said its digital currency would have a structure similar to bitcoin, while gram digital wallets will be made available to its 200-300 million global app users, according to anonymous insiders. The company has been working on developing an alternative for messaging apps that can handle more than just text messages since last year, when it launched WhatsApp.
Messaging app Telegram is racing to release its 'gram' cryptocurrency by 31 October and fulfil the promise it made to backers, or face giving back $1.7bn in investments. Telegram said its digital currency would have a structure similar to bitcoin, while gram digital wallets will be made available to its 200-300 million global app users, according to anonymous insiders. Analysts are sceptical Telegram will be able to secure regulatory support for its cryptocurrency in such a short time, while concerns swirled about gram's attractiveness to criminals.