The "Exiled" Telegram Founder and His Crypto Ambitions
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The "Exiled" Telegram Founder and His Crypto Ambitions
To understand why Telegram is drawn to crypto, one must first understand its founder, Pavel Valeryevich Durov.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Jessy, journalist at Jinse Finance
Introduction: "I'm not fighting for freedom, but merely proving through my existence that freedom has not yet disappeared." —— The Durov Code
Pavel Valeryevich Durov, the public face of Telegram, appears as a fighter chasing freedom in the commercial world. When rumors surfaced about internet giant Mail.ru acquiring VKontakte (hereinafter VK), he responded with a photo of himself flipping the middle finger. When the Russian government demanded censorship of speech on VK, he replied with a series of photos featuring "doge" memes.
However, these stories date back to when Durov founded VK, Russia's largest social network. What Durov is better known for—and more celebrated—is creating Telegram. This messaging app, which troubles governments worldwide due to its content being nearly impossible to crack, has become both a haven for anti-authoritarian activists and a breeding ground for various crimes.
Yet this aligns naturally with the ethos of blockchain purists: resisting authoritarianism, championing liberalism, and advocating personal responsibility.
Durov himself is an ardent supporter of the crypto world, and Telegram inherently embraces encryption: building public blockchains, integrating third-party crypto wallets, transaction bots, and enabling username ownership and trading on blockchain.
As a social platform with over 800 million users globally, Telegram’s entry into crypto represents a form of technological superiority over existing Web3 applications. But Telegram’s story extends far beyond crypto. From the moment Durov was forced to abandon VK—the social network he built from scratch—and began his entrepreneurial journey with Telegram, what unfolded is not only a unique business saga but also a tale of how libertarian ideals can be realized in the commercial world through blockchain technology.
The Libertarian’s Business Setbacks
To understand why Telegram leans so closely toward crypto, one must first understand its founder, Pavel Valeryevich Durov.
Durov rarely gives media interviews, but based on accounts from people close to him and his own social activity, we can sketch a rough portrait: always dressed in black, passionate about fitness, possessing a well-built physique and handsome features. Defiant and uncompromising, he seldom bows to power or capital in defense of his belief in freedom. A tech genius obsessed with privacy, after founding Telegram, he became a man without a fixed location...
This Russian-born (now UAE citizen) man from 1984 had an estimated net worth of $11.5 billion in 2023, ranking tenth among Russian billionaires. To this day, Telegram remains privately owned by the Durov brothers. Unlike other companies, Telegram has rejected funding from traditional venture capital firms, instead relying on self-funding by the founders, later turning to ICOs and bond issuances.
Among Durov’s many traits, the one most closely tied to crypto and his vision for Telegram is his identity as a libertarian.
This trait was already evident during the early days of VK.
Just like with Telegram, Durov allowed complete free speech and rampant piracy on VK. However, as VK grew in influence, the conflicts arising from this “freedom” inevitably erupted.
In December 2011, following widespread suspicions of election rigging in Russia’s State Duma elections, protesters used VK to organize demonstrations. This incident became the catalyst for direct Kremlin intervention against Durov. Yet, when ordered to delete accounts and pages, Durov refused. Instead, he turned his VK, Twitter, and Instagram profiles into battlegrounds, posting absurd pet pictures to express dissent.
According to widely circulated accounts, Durov’s refusal directly led armed forces to enter his home the very night he posted those images. What followed mirrored every classic story of governmental encroachment on business: Durov gradually lost control of VK, which eventually came under the control of Mail.ru, a company closely aligned with the Kremlin.
Later, Durov’s shares were increasingly diluted, and the final chapter of his VK story was his removal as CEO by the board.
He is a quintessential libertarian who believes free speech supersedes all else. While running VK, he frequently faced demands from the Russian government to censor speech and remove posts—something fundamentally opposed to Durov’s political beliefs. Coupled with his stubborn unwillingness to compromise, open conflict became inevitable.
Still, during VK’s operation, Durov had no choice but to make concessions. After all, the company wasn’t solely his, and the combined pressure of politics and capital proved too strong. Ultimately, VK agreed to share user data with Russia’s Federal Security Service. In response, Durov threw dozens of paper airplanes made from 5,000-ruble bills out the window of his St. Petersburg office. He said the act was meant to prove the company’s decision wasn’t driven by money.
Embracing Crypto: Both Political Ideal and Inevitable Business Move
The paper airplane later became Telegram’s logo.
In January 2014, Durov sold off all his VK shares, left Russia, and began his “nomadic” life. What he sold wasn’t just shares, but also his house, car, and all fixed assets.
Before going into exile, Durov had already started working with his brother on launching Telegram. The commonly told version traces its origin to his experience at VK, where government surveillance made him realize the importance of personal privacy. Headquartered in Dubai, Telegram has no fixed office; he and his core team work while moving across the globe. He holds all Telegram shares personally—to avoid a repeat of VK’s fate.
Telegram champions free speech, uses end-to-end encryption (though users must manually enable secret chats), and conducts no content moderation. This brings freedom of expression—but also makes it a haven for crime: drug trafficking, personal data trading, and groups similar to Korea’s “Nth Room” case can all be found on Telegram.
This was Telegram’s original character, though later it made some “correct” compromises, such as blocking terrorist organizations, child abuse-related accounts, bots, and channels.
At heart, however, Durov remains an extreme libertarian and a true believer in blockchain and cryptocurrency. As early as 2012, during the VK era, he publicly suggested Russia abolish its existing monetary system. He has openly stated he owns Bitcoin. That same year, he published a manifesto titled “Libertarianism,” outlining his ideas for improving Russia—proposing reforms to the education system, eliminating taxes in information sectors, abolishing visa requirements, registration, and conscription, reducing tariffs, granting full autonomy to regions, and introducing jury trials.
Given this background, it’s no surprise Telegram ventured into crypto. Starting with a public blockchain, building a crypto ecosystem intertwined with Telegram, reflects Durov’s ambition. In 2018, Telegram launched its own cryptocurrency, Gram, and the blockchain platform TON. Looking back six years earlier, Durov advocated abolishing the ruble and supporting digital currencies and decentralization—six years later, he began acting on those very ideas.
The TON blockchain aims to provide Telegram users with fast, secure decentralized payments, digital identities, and other services. As a Layer 1 blockchain, compared to peers like Ethereum and Solana, its standout features are scalability and sharding, offering ultra-fast transactions and low fees.
Judging by TON’s characteristics, it clearly aims to support large-scale user demand. Another notable feature is its asynchronous architecture—while this limits TON’s development in DeFi, it underscores that mass adoption is TON’s real goal. Because of these traits, TON was initially described as a decentralized platform for apps and services akin to WeChat, Google Play, or App Store—even a decentralized alternative to Visa and Mastercard payment processing.
Enabling Telegram users to better access the crypto world may have been TON’s founding vision. For example, current payment and wallet functions within Telegram run on TON, which already hosts a full ecosystem including NFTs, DeFi, DEXs, and games.
Learning from VK’s lesson of being eaten up by capital, Durov avoided traditional fundraising methods for Telegram. Instead, he turned to crypto-style financing. TON raised over $1.7 billion through an ICO of its Gram tokens. However, in 2019, it faced strong U.S. regulatory action. The SEC sued Telegram, accusing it of conducting unregistered securities offerings. Telegram then paused TON’s mainnet launch and ultimately chose to abandon the project, returning ICO funds to investors after losing the legal battle.
In 2020, Telegram officially announced it was abandoning TON. Yet, the underlying technology continued to evolve. For an open-source project, “TON’s independence” actually brought new momentum and vitality. Community involvement transformed TON into a more decentralized initiative, driven by collective contribution.
Between 2020 and 2021, the New TON team restarted development based on open-source materials. The team later rebranded as the TON Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting and developing TON.
This is the TON we know today—officially named The Open Network. Despite its advantages, TON’s current state remains modest with a sparse ecosystem. According to DefiLlama data, TON’s TVL stands at $10.65 million, ranking 61st.
Using ICOs to fund itself reflects not only Durov’s natural affinity for crypto but also reveals a harsh reality: Telegram struggles financially, and Durov’s refusal to compromise with “capital” may leave few alternatives. In some ways, while Telegram enjoys strong product-market fit, it lacks product-business model fit. Embracing crypto thus becomes a strategic exploration for better profitability.
Like WeChat: Integrating Blockchain Third-Party Apps on Telegram
At this year’s Token 2049 conference, Telegram officially stated its intention to turn the platform into a Web3 gateway via TON. Although TON now operates independently from Telegram, the two continue to collaborate closely.
Telegram has long been a must-have app in the crypto industry. On July 18 this year, Telegram’s founder announced on his personal channel that the app gains over 2.5 million new users daily, with monthly active users surpassing 800 million.
In fact, Telegram has been systematically integrating blockchain-based third-party applications—similar to how WeChat hosts various mini-programs, allowing users to access third-party services like ride-hailing or wealth management without leaving the platform. Telegram serves as a traffic hub, and it’s actively participating, such as by launching the Telegram Passport feature.
Telegram Passport helps users complete identity verification for services through unified authorization. As described by Telegram’s official team: “Upload your identification documents once, and you can instantly share your data with service providers requiring real identity verification—such as financial institutions or ICOs.” These identity details are stored using end-to-end encryption.
In July this year, the TON blockchain introduced a new Wallet Pay function within Telegram, enabling merchants to integrate Telegram’s wallet bot to accept cryptocurrency payments. Users can now pay merchants in Bitcoin, USDT, or TON directly within the app.
Users can also deposit and withdraw funds directly via bank cards and use @wallet to pay for numerous services within the Telegram ecosystem—such as purchasing Telegram Premium, buying virtual eSIM phone cards via @Mobile, or even trading usernames on Telegram using TON.
Wallet Pay operates independently from Telegram. The wallet bot and application are built on Telegram’s open Web Apps protocol, allowing developers to create their own apps and services on Telegram. Transactions incur fees. Nevertheless, collaboration between Telegram and TON continues—Telegram has integrated TON’s self-custody crypto wallet, TON Space.
Another notable feature is “Fragment.” On December 7, 2022, Telegram announced users could now create a Telegram account without a SIM card and log in using anonymous numbers supported by blockchain on the Fragment platform. Earlier, in October of that year, Telegram enabled username auctions on Fragment—marking a shift of power and assets from platforms to users.
This was a significant milestone. As Durov put it, this marked the first time in social media history a fair, transparent username marketplace was established—users now truly own their social media addresses. These addresses are secured on TON, a decentralized blockchain network with an immutable ledger. Buying usernames requires Toncoin, and the launch of this app further enriched TON’s ecosystem.
This works via NFT-like smart contracts that establish blockchain-based ownership of usernames. According to Durov, within less than a month of Fragment’s launch, $50 million worth of usernames were sold.
Precisely because of Telegram’s openness and inclusiveness toward crypto, many innovations bridging Web2 and Web3 around Telegram have emerged. For instance, trading bots like Unibot—integrated directly within Telegram—became a breakout trend this year. Such bots allow users to interact conversationally with bots inside Telegram to execute on-chain trades on platforms like Uniswap—including token swaps, copy trading, limit orders, and private transactions.
From enabling crypto wallets, facilitating transactions and payments, to securing user data ownership and tradability—these represent major innovations over traditional Web2 social products. Compared to current SocialFi experiments, Telegram’s approach—with its massive user base—amounts to a form of technological dominance.
What Telegram does, and what developers build on Telegram, is making connections between Web2 and Web3 smoother and more seamless—pointing toward one of the industry’s most promising futures.
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