Telegram CEO Pavel Durov revealed on a podcast that a significant Bitcoin investment made in 2013 funds his lifestyle. He also detailed the history and current status of the blockchain originally developed for the messaging app, The Open Network.
During an appearance on Lex Fridman’s podcast, the tech entrepreneur explained his early adoption of cryptocurrency. “I was a big believer in Bitcoin since more or less the start of it,” he said, recounting his purchase of several thousand Bitcoin in 2013. He invested “a couple of million” dollars at what he termed a “local maximum” of around $700 per coin. When the price later fell below $200 in the subsequent bear market, he dismissed critics, stating, “I don’t care,” and affirmed his decision to hold the asset. “I’m not going to sell it. I believe in this thing,” he recalled telling them.
Durov elaborated on the philosophy that underpinned his investment, viewing Bitcoin as a model for how currency should function. “I think this is the way money should work,” he said, noting its resistance to confiscation and political censorship. He then explained that this long-held asset is what funds his lifestyle, countering perceptions that he profits from his company. “Telegram is a money-losing operation for me personally,” Durov stated. “Bitcoin is something that allowed me to stay afloat,” he said, referencing expenses such as private flights and renting locations.
Durov also offered a long-term price prediction, suggesting Bitcoin could reach $1 million per coin. He based this forecast on the monetary policies of governments, which he described as “printing money like no tomorrow.” In contrast, he noted, “Nobody’s printing Bitcoin,” highlighting its predictable inflation and eventual supply cap as features that support its use as a store of value. “Bitcoin is here to stay,” he asserted, adding, “All the fiat currencies remain to be seen.”
The discussion shifted to the Telegram Open Network (TON). Durov, who was arrested in France a year ago on charges of facilitating crimes by Telegram users, said TON was developed between 2018 and 2019. The project’s genesis was a need for greater performance than existing blockchains could offer. He explained that Bitcoin and Ethereum were “not scalable enough to cope with the load that our hundreds of millions of users would create.” The proposed solution was a design with inherent scalability through the use of “shardchains.”
Despite developing the technology, Telegram could not launch the network because of regulatory restrictions in the United States. The project subsequently continued independently and is now called The Open Network. Durov confirmed it is “deeply embedded in the Telegram ecosystem” and has gained significant momentum in the non-fungible token (NFT) market. “TON has become, I think, the largest or the second largest blockchain in terms of daily NFT trading volumes,” he claimed during the podcast appearance.
