Telegram ICO Raises $1.7 Billion, Even As Bitcoin Price Falls

``Even while the fervor for cryptocurrency poster child Bitcoin cools, investors are still piling onto what's expected to be the largest initial coin offering (ICO) yet--that of messaging app Telegram. The five-year-old company, which has attracted users by touting its encrypted-messaging service, raised $850 million from 94 accredited investors in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Thursday. That doubles a previous raise first disclosed in mid-February, adding up to a total of $1.7 billion raised by the firm incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.''