Rumors: Telegram Is Sold to Mail.ru

by Samuel White

Some time ago, Pavel Durov praised American capitalism, until the situation with the GRAM cryptocurrency and the TON blockchain platform ended.

Telegram and SEC Concluded a Settlement Agreement
On June 25, it became known that Telegram and the SEC entered into an agreement of lawsuit, under which Durov’s team would pay a fine of $18.5 million, and would also be obliged to return $1.22 billion to investors.
The Internet ProtocolSamuel White

It seems that the amount of Telegram's debt to TON investors is critical, and Telegram does not have its own capital and is not monetized. For its smooth operation, Telegram always needs funding. There was enough money from investors for the first time, and later it was planned to receive income from transaction fees on the TON platform. This scheme has collapsed, and now the debts should be repaid.

Recently, Telegram was unblocked on the territory of the Russian Federation. Representatives of the messenger immediately held a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Russia. Durov's team received an offer from the government to open an office in Russia, which is strange, especially considering how negatively the Russian authorities spoke about Telegram a couple of years ago.

According to rumors, Telegram is preparing for a sale. Several factors indicate this:

  • The recent arrival of Pavel Durov in St. Petersburg. This fact is carefully hidden, but the information is reliable. Considering the fact that recently, Durov spoke unkindly about Russia.
  • Loyalty to the authorities. The banned messenger on the Russian Federation's territory cannot receive such an arrangement from the authorities in such a short time and receive an offer to open its office in Russia.
  • Debts. It is necessary to pay off the investors, and there is nowhere to get funds from except from Telegram's sale.
  • In his last messages, Durov criticized the United States as a place of residence. It can be regarded as a positive attitude of Pavel Durov towards Russia.
  • Durov's blockchain platform was not accepted in the United States, whereas Russia would be glad to work with such talented developers.
  • The last point: an insider is saying that Telegram is preparing to be sold to Mail.ru.

Other insider information is owned by Kirill Promzin, a well-known Russian trader and analyst who, back in 2012, predicted the growth of bitcoin to $20,000.

Russian Telegram channel Profit Geek posted information about the sale of Telegram to Mail.ru. Telegram considered that such messages are unreliable and marked it as "scam."

However, on his Telegram channel, Durov stated:

I am proud that, unlike Uber, we at Telegram have always declined offers to sell our operations in specific countries. A few years ago we received letters from two funds with ties to countries that later attempted to block Telegram. Both letters expressed the same idea: “Telegram is going to get blocked in our country soon, so your only option is to sell us the local part of your business”. My response to those offers has been along the lines of my 2011 middle finger photo: we are not in the business of betraying our users. We are not selling Telegram – neither in part, nor in full. This will always be our position.

Update August 5, 11:25 AM ET: Added Pavel Durov's commentary on the sale of Telegram. On his Telegram channel, Pavel Durov expressed his opinion about the sale of TikTok and said that his team would never betray its users.