Arrington-backed Crypto Loans Firm to Accept Telegram's Token as Collateral

Michael Arrington-backed crypto loans provider Nexo has announced that it will accept the gram token from messaging app firm Telegram as collateral.

Nexo said that, following the first public sale of gram tokens through the Liquid exchange platform, kicking off on July 10, it is allowing customers to use grams as backing for its instant credit lines and credit card.

The limited gram sale - the first open to the general public - is being made via Gram Asia, a Korean firm claiming to be the largest holder of gram token - obtained through Telegram's private, multi-stage ICO in 2018.

The token sale reaped an astonishing $1.7 billion in two phases - the highest raised via an ICO at the time.

Telegram is not associated with the gram offering, Liquid has told CoinDesk.

Should grams go see a wider public offering, the token has "The potential to become one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap," according to Nexo.

The full launch of the TON network is also likely to boost the market for grams, it said.

The Liquid exchange indicates that gram tokens will go on sale at a price of $4 each.

The token will not be made available to investors immediately, however.

It's not clear how Nexo will enable grams to be used as collateral in the meantime.