Telegram Raises $1.5B With BlackRock, Eyes AI & TON Future

💸 Telegram Is Raising $1.5B — And It’s Not Just About Debt

Telegram’s raising $1.5 billion through new convertible bonds — but this isn’t just a refinancing play.

It’s a multi-layered move involving:

•	🧠 AI (with Elon)
•	🪙 Web3 (via TON)
•	🏦 Wall Street (BlackRock’s in)

Telegram isn’t pivoting — it’s evolving into a financial-tech super app.

🧾 The Deal: Bonds, Yield, and a 20% IPO Discount

•	💰 5-year bonds, 9% yield
•	🎯 $1.5B target — already in motion
•	🪙 20% discount on Telegram IPO shares if/when it happens

Notably, investors include:

•	🧠 BlackRock
•	🏦 Citadel
•	🌍 Mubadala

Even with legal heat around Durov, capital is flowing in — fast.

*� Tokenized Bonds on TON? �*

Unofficial sources say up to $500M of the old debt is being tokenized via TON as part of the Telegram Bond Fund (TBF).

That’s not just clever debt structuring.

That’s real-world assets (RWAs) going Web3 — directly inside Telegram’s own ecosystem.

RWA tokenization?

Telegram is doing it on its own chain.

🤖 xAI x Telegram: AI Just Went Native

Telegram signed a $300M deal to integrate Elon Musk’s Grok AI directly into the app.

Features include:

•	✏️ Text rewriting + AI explanations
•	🧠 Fact-checking + search
•	📄 PDF generation
•	💬 3D animated stickers (yes, seriously)

And Telegram gets 50% of Grok subscription revenue.

Super app? Check.

Built-in AI? Now a reality.

*� TON’s New Payment VP = Ex-Visa Crypto Boss

TON just hired Nikola Plecas, Visa Europe’s former head of crypto.

His job?

Turn TON into Web3’s go-to payments layer by building:

•	🔁 Fiat on/off ramps
•	🧩 Telegram Mini App integrations
•	✅ Compliant infrastructure for global rollout

TON now has ex-MoonPay, ex-Kingsway, ex-Revolut talent in leadership.

This is no longer just a Telegram side-project.

⚖️ Durov’s Legal Cloud — But Investors Don’t Blink

Yes, Durov is under legal pressure in Europe.

Yes, IPO timing is unclear.

But with:

•	📊 $540M profit in 2024
•	📈 $700M projected for 2025
•	🤝 BlackRock + Citadel + ARK on board

Telegram’s fundamentals are starting to speak louder than the headlines.

🚀 TL;DR: Telegram Is Building the Financial Internet

•	💵 Telegram is raising $1.5B via bonds (9% yield + IPO discount)
•	🪙 Rumors point to tokenized debt on the TON blockchain
•	🤖 $300M Grok AI deal turns Telegram into an AI-native platform
•	🧠 TON recruits ex-Visa exec to lead payments strategy
•	🏛 BlackRock backs the raise — signaling confidence in Telegram’s multi-modal future

What started as a messenger is morphing into a fintech x Web3 x AI empire. Telegram isn’t joining the revolution — it’s building it.