Yes the SEC could have easily made a decision a very long time ago but for them to do it at the 11th hour to a project that raised $1.7 billion is beyond a monumental PR failure for both Telegram and the SEC.
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It probably took them time to figure that out but who knows? It could also be their strategy to kill telegram for whatever reason.
They probably have no intention of killing Telegram but they do have some sort of agenda. It might be to show others out there the power lay with the SEC.
Something does not stack up. Why did the SEC pull the rug from under Telegram and its TON/GRAM at such a late stage? With 44% of the tokens being offered and all being taken up by investors it will make so many problems for them and their investors.
It does look fishy and the idea flexing their power to send a strong message (again) to all kinds of token sale in US territory makes a lot of sense. We can only guess but one thing I think is for sure, they (SEC) will get their money from telegram.