Caymans Island-registered cryptocurrency exchange Blackmoon plans to list encrypted messaging app Telegram’s forthcoming Gram token via a partnership with Swiss crypto custodian Gram Vault.

According to a Finance Magnates report on Sept. 10, Blackmoon — which was founded as a traditional financial products provider before launching crypto trading services — plans to boost liquidity by enabling users to purchase Gram tokens using bank cards.

Gram Vault claims its clients among biggest investors in Telegram ICO

By any stretch, Blackmoon is not a household name in the cryptocurrency space. Yet the clients of its partner for the listing — the fully regulated Swiss crypto custodian Gram Vault — were reportedly among the largest investors in Telegram’s $1.7 billion private initial coin offering (ICO).

The cooperation will, therefore, mean that Gram tokens will be transferred directly from Gram Vault onto the exchange, ensuring instant and deep liquidity for traders, the partners have claimed.

Ahead of Blackmoon’s listing announcement, Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid had claimed it would be the representative of sales of Gram tokens for Gram Asia — yet this announcement was later disputed by sources close to the Telegram.

Earlier this month, Liquid disclosed the public blockchain wallet address that now holds all participating investor funds from its own Gram token offering, in which the token was sold to investors at triple the original $1.33 sale price of Telegram’s second ICO round in March 2018.

The token arms race

Recent reports indicate that Telegram is on track to launch its Gram cryptocurrency by October, following a process of planned public testing for its Telegram Open Network (TON) this month.

If true, Telegram would beat Facebook’s much-anticipated Libra stablecoin, which is planned for integration into the social media giant’s three wholly owned messaging services and would thus potentially have exposure to as many as 2.7 billion monthly users.