Telegram founder and owner Pavel Durov is confident that Bitcoin will ultimately sell for $1 million, but the future of Fiat currency is not so sure.
In an interview with Lex Fridman’s Podcast, Tech Antrepreneur discussed many topics around him, including trouble with the government, freedom of speech, and the right to privacy.
Durov bought Bitcoin early and continued to buy it.
Pavel Durov has admitted he has a great belief in Bitcoin from almost exactly the beginning of major cryptocurrencies. He got his first Bitcoin in 2013. At the peak of $700 at the time, “we just threw millions there.”
The following year, when Bitcoin fell to around $300, he “didn’t really care” and wasn’t going to sell it anyway:
“No one can confiscate Bitcoin from you. No one can censor you for political reasons. This is the ultimate exchange.”
The Russian-born businessman revealed his investment in Bitcoin rather than telegrams, helping to fund his lifestyle.
“Telegram is a personal operation for me to lose money. Bitcoin allows me to float,” he said, adding:
“And I think if Bitcoin is worth $1 million, that’s what we get.”
Durov suggested reading the trend of “The government continues to print money like tomorrow.” He also noted that Bitcoin has predictable inflation that ceases at certain points.
Bitcoin was positive and remains here, but it remains to be seen if this applies to all Fiat currencies that exist today.
When answering a question he had heard many times before, Pavel Durov argued that “Telegram has never shared a single private message with anyone, including the government or intelligence agency.”
Emphasizing that data within the messenger is encrypted, he emphasized that the design of the system would make Telegram even unable to share communications between state actors and users.
Durov rejected any concept that this could happen in the future, and rather declared that the company would leave its jurisdiction rather than that.
Describing privacy protection as fundamental, he criticized authorities who opposed it.
“You don’t like privacy. Do you think you should ban your country’s encryption as the EU is now trying to do for all member states?
Durov commented on his recent misery in France, spending his time trapped in small cells, arrested in August 2024 and accusing him of accomplices with crimes made possible by messengers.
He also recalled attempts by the French government to exploit the situation. For example, last year in Romania’s presidential election, we were asked whether they were ready to shut down telegram channels that support conservative candidates, or if they would oppose “pro-European” candidates.
Last week, the 40-year-old Russian accused him of pushing him onto the Tensor Telegram Channel in exchange for his favorable treatment in France in his ongoing legal case, ahead of his presidential vote in Moldova, a French neighbor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjph9njnavu
Durov’s decision to make Telegram different will be delivered in the end
Pavel Durov owns 100% of Telegram and invests millions of dollars of his money in messaging apps that only made him profitable in 2024.
The platform does not allow ads based on the user’s private data and does not display ads in private chats or small groups. Neither has an intrusive news feed. Doloff commented:
“We had to make a lot of innovation to reach the point where we could make a profit without resorting to suspicious business activities, including leveraging our personal data.”
In 2022, Telegram introduced a subscription model for certain additional features. Currently, there are over 15 million paid subscribers, and have made more than $500 million from premium subscriptions this year alone.
Messenger is experimenting with blockchain technology, allowing in-app payments and purchases for an increasing ecosystem of mini-app developers, charging reasonable fees.
Durov highlighted the development of the Ton (Open Network) blockchain. It started out as a telegram project, but was eventually launched by the open source community, but had no direct involvement.
He also recently noted the significant growth in NFT gift prices on Telegram, making Ton one of the biggest blockchains in terms of the daily amount of impossible tokens.
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