Yesterday, news broke showing that Telegram will delay the launch of its GRM token by as long as 6 months. Currently, it seems like the platform is pushing back against the US Securities and Exchange Commission, too. The crypto news today show that Telegram responds to SEC in an official way, filing a letter to the securities regulator on Wednesday and writing that the SEC emergency injunction last week was unwarranted.As it stands, Telegram is asking for a federal court to deny the regulator and its motion to enforce a subpoena. Furthermore, the messaging giant argued its upcoming Gram token and said that it is not a security - and that the SEC should not be able to force the company to produce any documents about the blockchain project in general.Meanwhile, the SEC filed an emergency action preventing Telegram from distributing its Gram (GRM) tokens. The altcoin news also show that Telegram violated federal laws by selling an unregistered security. Now that Telegram claims that GRM tokens are "not securities" the SEC's emergency action “runs counter to longstanding Supreme Court precedent, the SEC’s own views relating to other cryptocurrencies, and common sense," according to Telegram.As Telegram responds to SEC, the filing shows that they "did not...offer any securities to the public" through an ICO, referencing the $1.7 billion that it raised using a Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) framework.“Telegram entered into private purchase agreements with a limited number of highly sophisticated purchasers (the ‘Private Placement’) that provided for the future payment of a currency (grams) but only following the completion and launch of the TON Blockchain,” the filing in which Telegram responds to SEC said.It also added:

“Significantly, Telegram has already treated the Private Placement as a securities offering pursuant to valid exemptions to registration under the Securities Act of 1933. The grams themselves, as distinct from the purchase contracts, will merely be a currency or commodity (like gold, silver or sugar) — not a ‘security’ — once the TON Blockchain launches. “

After the SEC's action, Telegram emailed its investors and noted that while the company intended to launch TON by the end of October, “the recent SEC lawsuit has made that timing unachievable.”

Bank of Canada considers developing a digital currency that will eventually replace fiat money in the country according to the local media platform which we explore more today in the latest news on altcoin.According to the reports, Bitcoin came out more than ten years ago as a decentralized peer-to-peer currency that enables private transactions and no government control. The governments, however, learned how to deal with this emerging crypto space. The Bank of Canada had a presentation called ‘’Central Bank Money: The Next Generation’’ which claims that a digital currency issued by the central bank will have many benefits and will allow the sharing of personal data without authorities and taxes.The reports found out that the Bank of Canada considers developing its own digital currency in order to fight direct threats of cryptocurrencies. This new coin will be widely available and initially be used in parallel with fiat money and in the end, the digital currency will remain the only form of money. The BoC presentation was prepared by Stephen Murchison who is an adviser to Governor Stephen Poloz. He has led the central bank’s digital currency research and after two years of in-depth analysis, he concluded that a central bank digital currency has multiple advantages. The document explained further:

‘’We need to innovate to stay in the game. [A CBDC] would provide all the benefits of a central bank-backed asset, as well as all the convenience and security of wireless, electronic payments.’’

Also, the reports noted multiple benefits but only one setback. More specifically, a digital currency ‘’presents a risk to stable, low-cost funding for banks and deposits.’’ However, the central bank officially claims that it hasn’t yet decided whether it would launch a digital currency but they do agree that the banknotes are becoming obsolete. The bank is also under a lot of pressure from the growing crypto space. And according to the presentation, we can read that:

 “Cryptocurrencies may become a direct threat to our ability to implement monetary policy and lender of last resort (LOLR) role.’’

As per the crypto news, if the Bank of Canada succeeds with its plan, Canada will not be the only country that has a national digital currency. The Republic of the Marshall Islands also stepped ahead with its government-backed cryptocurrency.

Nouriel Roubini, known as “Dr. Doom” is in the latest cryptocurrency news again - discussing cryptocurrency and going in a debate with the major crypto advocate Roger Ver. According to Ver, the crypto naysayer had “clearly lost the debate.”The two squared off at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center, in the Westminster neighborhood. They talked about crypto in front of 500 people and said that the crowd was restive, booing and shouting, especially at Dr. Doom towards the end of the confrontation. It all started when Ver talked about one app and how it presents the idea of “uncensorable money.” As he explained, “This is a wonderfully powerful tool for every single human being on the planet.”Roubini, known as Dr. Doom, demurred and said that governments “will crack down on you” and told Ver that he is “delusional” just like the concept of crypto, which must follow anti-money laundering and know-your-customer regulations in order to positively be accepted by the crowd. The comebacks by Roubini were mainly personal and were seen as direct attacks on Ver. The fact that cryptocurrencies are down by more than 95% from their all-time high prices, Dr. Doom took the freedom to describe crypto as a “big fake thing.”The New York University professor attacked Ver on many occasions. However, the latter defended himself and the concept of crypto and pointed out that while “every asset is down from its peak… if you're looking at how much cryptocurrencies are up since a couple of years ago,” the gains are still significant. Prior to Bitcoin’s 2017 bull run, he said that the decentralized asset spent most of 2016 trading in the $400 to $1000 region.Ver also said that in 2011, “Bitcoin went from $30 down to $2—so that's more than a 90% drop—but now here it is. It's not $2 anymore, it's thousands of dollars—so his arguments don't hold water with me. And I don't think anybody in the crowd was schooled either.” As to Dr. Doom’s claim that “no one” was using cryptocurrencies, Ver said that “clearly people are using it - we are at a big, giant conference of people using cryptocurrencies, and there are conferences every single week about it.”

“If [Roubini]  wants to close his eyes and plug his ears and claim nobody's using it—well, that doesn't change reality one bit. People are using cryptocurrencies,” Roger Ver added.

Dr. Doom heckled out of the room before journalists were able to get his take on the debate, saying that he “has to catch a plane.”

The central government in Venezuela will be handing out a total of $543,700 worth of the state-run and oil-backed Petro cryptocurrency to each of the country’s 23 states on a bi-monthly basis. The big cryptocurrency news was confirmed by the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a televised address.As Maduro stated, he would personally oversee the handout of 1 million Petro tokens ($23,640 each) to the country’s federal state governments every eight weeks - in an attempt to boost the use of the oil-backed token.“Additional Petro resources” would also be handed out to local governments as of next month, making for a total payout worth between $1.5 million and $3.6 million USD. The Venezuelan President said this but did not specify a time period for the initiative. He also did not mention how long the payout period would last.The president of Venezuela also said that he states would be free to use the tokens however they see fit - saying that the move would help with the “mass adoption” of the Petro token.On Twitter, the altcoin news featured a lot of users pointing out the potential flaws in the plan of the Venezuelan President. According to one economics analyst, Petro’s white paper shows that only 100 million Petro tokens are currently in circulation. If the government pushes ahead with its plan, it would end up issuing more than that amount in only a matter of months - which is not logical at all.We don’t know if Maduro has calculated the figures or made mistakes with his calculations. However, the Venezuelan PResident is still forging away with his crypto plans. Earlier this year, he said that he was also assigning Petro funds to state-backed agricultural and industrial projects.At the time, Maduro claimed that the funds will be used to “buy supplies and raw materials” that the country is struggling to purchase due to the US-led economic sanctions. He also noted that he would be assigning “USD 2 million worth of Petro tokens” to a joint project with China.Meanwhile, Petro payments are officially in - as big news from the country show - and more than 93 stores officially accept the country-issued and oil-backed cryptocurrency.