What Happened to Pavel Durov? The Visionary Behind Telegram and Cryptocurrency Initiatives

Pavel Durov, a name synonymous with digital privacy and freedom, is best known as the founder of Telegram, the popular encrypted messaging app used by millions globally. In addition to Telegram, Durov has played an influential role in cryptocurrency, largely through his proposition of the blockchain-based platform, Telegram Open Network (TON). But what happened to Pavel Durov and his ambitious crypto projects? Pavel Durov’s journey with blockchain and cryptocurrency began when he attempted to launch the Telegram Open Network (TON) in 2017. At the core of this was the Gram cryptocurrency, which promised to deliver decentralized applications, similar to Ethereum, but with a faster, scalable network. The initial coin offering (ICO) for Gram was one of the most highly anticipated in the space, rapidly raising over $1.7 billion from investors. However, the introduction of TON faced a major roadblock when it came under intense scrutiny from regulatory authorities. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intervened, halting the ICO operation, asserting that the Gram tokens were unregistered securities. This legal battle disrupted Durov's grand vision to launch the TON platform as originally planned. Facing this significant regulatory pressure, Pavel Durov eventually decided to abandon the project. By then, Durov had already returned the invested funds to TON contributors, marking an abrupt end to what could have been one of the most innovative crypto initiatives. Following the regulatory halt, Durov's role in the crypto world has been less active in terms of launching new blockchain projects. Despite shifting focus back to Telegram and other initiatives, TON continues to live on in a different form. A group of open-source developers, unrelated to Durov, forked the TON platform, allowing a version of the blockchain to carry forward under the name FreeTON, now known as The Open Network. Today, Pavel Durov remains mostly focused on evolving Telegram. His efforts toward blockchain and decentralized finance continue to have indirect influence, but Durov himself has taken a step back from directly spearheading new crypto ventures.