I can't tell if this is sarcasm (and you know something I don't), or you're being serious. I would agree if you're being serious, despite the lack of news coverage, based on a few points:

- $1.7B raised in ICO: This is far more than has ever been raised in any other ICO. I also think it says something about investor optimism. I'd bet that this was a data point in Facebook's decision to do something similar with WhatsApp.

- Telegram's development team: Some of the best in the world. They've done a lot with a few highly talented programmers and mathematicians.

- 200,000,000+ monthly active users as of March 2018.