Exclusive: ProtonMail Refutes ICO "Unsubstantiated" Rumours, Confirms no Plans of Token Launch

Recent reports of privacy-email provider ProtonMail planning an Initial Coin Offering for its product were widely circulated in cryptocurrency communities.

As per a job listing on ProtonMail's careers page, the company is searching for a blockchain developer to join the team.

CryptoSlate reached out to ProtonMail to confirm the development, and the Swiss company shot down all such reports.

As stated in a letter to CryptoSlate, ProtonMail noted all "Unsubstantiated" rumors remain a subject of media speculation, with the official announcement from the company.

The company pointed out that several proton-suffixed mail services are under the direct ownership of ProtonMail, yet the "Hundreds" of such domain names have been purchased merely to protect ownership rights and protect trademark infringement.

In particular, the company called out reports of a "ProtonCoin" ICO and added while Proton Technologies indeed owns the protoncoin.com domain, there are no plans to pursue any related business in the near future.

To conclude, ProtonMail stated it "Could take years" for such a feature to be fully integrated and current statements are premature.

The job listing confirms the company is pursuing "Exciting blockchain-related ventures" that make the technology accessible for general use and "Empower millions of people around the world."

In August 2016, ProtonMail added a Bitcoin payment option for users to upgrade to the "Premium" service.

As stated on their website, ProtonMail was developed in 2013 by scientists and engineers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research.