Telegram is raising money for what will likely be the largest initial coin offering in history. The company confirmed with the SEC it has privately raised $850 Million for the offering, and reports say Telegram is planning a second round of private financing. Full Tilt Capital's Managing Partner Anthony Pompliano explains why Telegram has been able to raise so much capital.
"This is a team that has proven themselves," says Pompliano. "I think they've got a pretty interesting plan moving forward in terms of what they want to do with their money."
Roughly $4 billion was raised by ICOs in 2017, according to EY, compared with $6.8 billion raised through traditional angel and seed financing in 2017, according to PitchBook. Regulators are now looking to crack down on this growing ICO market. "This is new we haven't seen this before so I think people are trying to figure out the best way to participate," says Pompliano.
We may not be headed for a 2008-esque disaster, but increased geopolitical tension paired with the end of the tech boom means volatility could stick around.
The dreaded Netflix crackdown on profile sharing translated into a major boost in subscribers while the promised rate cuts seem to be a far off fantasy.