1. Pavel Durov’s Tech Empire
The rise of VKontakte: Russia's Facebook
VKontakte, the Russian version of Facebook, is a social networking platform founded by Pavel Durov in 2006. With little Internet regulation, VK quickly grew in Russia and other former Soviet countries, quickly reaching over 100 million users. Pavel Durov is a mysterious and controversial figure who often draws attention for his management style and public actions, such as throwing cash from the windows of VK's offices in May 2012.
When large-scale anti-Putin protests broke out in Russia in early 2012, Pavel Durov refused to shut down the VK group used to organize the protests, a decision that made him a hero in the eyes of the liberal opposition. However, as VK's influence grew, the Kremlin began to increase its attention and control over the Internet. In 2013, Pavel Durov was wanted by police for a traffic accident, and although the charges were later downgraded, it was widely regarded as a political attack.
In the same year, pro-Kremlin oligarch Alisher Usmanov began to acquire shares in VK. Despite Pavel Durov's initial strong opposition, he sold his shares by January 2014. In April 2014, Pavel Durov finally announced his departure from VK, publishing a statement on his personal VK page, saying that since the change in the ownership structure, his management freedom over the company has been greatly reduced, and it has become increasingly difficult to adhere to the principles of the social network.
Despite the loss of its founder, VK maintained its dominance in the Russian social media market. However, over time, some of Russia's urban elite began to switch from VK to Facebook, even though VK still had a larger market share.
The birth of Telegram: a global encrypted communication application
Telegram was founded in 2013 by brothers Pavel and Nikolai Durov, founders of VKontakte. Their goal was to create a messaging app that focused on speed, security, and privacy. The core concept of Telegram stems from the political pressure and government surveillance that the Durov brothers encountered when running VK, which prompted them to create a platform free from government interference.
Telegram features end-to-end encryption and decentralized infrastructure to ensure the security of user data. The application debuted on iOS in August 2013, followed by an Android version. Telegram quickly gained popularity with its open source nature and unique features such as self-destructing messages, large file transfers, and a robot platform that attracted a large number of users.
As Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp sparked privacy concerns, Telegram's user base surged, reaching 100 million monthly active users by February 2014. The app continued to innovate, launching features such as super groups, channels, and voice calls, further expanding its influence.
However, Telegram's privacy policy has also sparked controversy. In 2018, the Russian government attempted to ban Telegram but failed to completely prevent its use. The platform has also been criticized for being exploited by some criminal organizations, although the company has maintained its stance on maintaining user privacy.
Despite the challenges, Telegram continues to grow rapidly. In January 2021, after WhatsApp modified its privacy policy, Telegram added 25 million new users in a short period of time, bringing the total number of users to more than 500 million. As of 2023, the number of monthly active users has exceeded 700 million, making it one of the most popular apps in the world, especially in privacy-conscious and censorship-prone regions.
Telegram’s success can be largely attributed to the vision of Pavel Durov, who is known for his fierce defense of user privacy, and the technical expertise of Nikolai Durov, who developed the MTProto protocol that underpins Telegram’s secure messaging.
2. The turning point of the TON project
Founder arrested, Durov fights back
Durov's arrest (August 25, 2023)
Pavel Durov was arrested by French police at Le Bourget Airport north of Paris. He was accused of failing to effectively control the Telegram platform, allowing illegal activities such as terrorism, money laundering and drug trafficking to spread on it. As a Russian-born French citizen, Durov was granted bail but was required to stay in France and report to the police regularly.
Russian government response (August 25-29)
The Russian government expressed concern about the incident. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Durov has Russian citizenship and expressed willingness to provide necessary assistance. Russia also warned France not to politicize the case, otherwise it might be regarded as "political persecution."
Initial reaction from the cryptocurrency community (August 29 onwards)
The TON Society launched a petition calling on French authorities to release Durov, which quickly garnered more than 2 million signatures, demonstrating widespread support for Durov in the crypto community.
VC support: industry confidence in TON
Positive response from investors
Subsequently, some well-known investors began to publicly support the TON project:
l PG co-founder Shan purchased 38,282 TONs at an average price of $5.22, with a total value of approximately $200,000.
Well-known investor Zhu Su announced that he had purchased TON at a price of US$5.8 and expressed his optimism about related projects.
DWF Labs partner Andrei Grachev purchased about $500,000 in TON tokens, promising not to sell them until Durov was released.
Industry leaders voice support
Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu publicly expressed support for the TON community, emphasizing the importance of decentralized technology in resisting censorship and maintaining freedom.
Symbolic actions of the TON project
The TON project changed its logo on Coingecko and social media to "Resistance Dog," symbolically expressing support for Durov.
This series of events reflects the cryptocurrency community's high attention and strong reaction to the Durov case. From diplomatic warnings at the government level, to petitions at the grassroots level, to actual actions by investors, the strength of support has gradually increased. This not only reflects support for Durov personally, but also reflects the crypto community's adherence to the concept of decentralization and freedom of speech. The TON project has gained unexpected exposure and support in this process, and its token price has also seen a slight increase, showing the market's positive response to this incident.
TON Ecosystem Future Development Inference Test
On the day when Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested, the market value of the TON project did experience a drop of about 20%, reflecting the market's initial panic reaction to this sudden incident. However, as the situation develops and the cryptocurrency community responds positively, the TON project is likely to experience a rebound.
In the short term, we may see the following:
1) Sympathy Buying: Due to the community’s support for Durov, there may be a wave of “sympathy” buying, driving the price of TON tokens up rapidly in the short term.
2) Increased exposure: This event has brought a lot of attention to the TON project, which may attract more investors and developers to join the ecosystem.
3) Enhanced community cohesion: In the face of external pressure, the TON community may become more united, which is conducive to the long-term development of the project.
However, in the long term, the development of the TON project will mainly depend on the following factors:
1) Legal risk management: Project parties need to effectively respond to possible legal challenges to ensure project compliance.
2) Ecosystem expansion: Attract more developers and applications into the TON ecosystem, increasing the utility and value of the network.
3) Risk diversification: Do not over-rely on the Telegram platform and develop independent application scenarios and use cases.
In general, although TON may benefit from this incident in the short term and experience a wave of growth, its long-term development will still depend on the project's risk resistance, technological innovation, and ecosystem construction. If TON can effectively manage the current crisis and turn it into a driving force for project development, then this incident may become a turning point for TON to move towards wider adoption. However, if the project fails to properly handle potential legal and regulatory challenges or fails to maintain the pace of technological innovation, the current positive effects may gradually fade and the project will face greater uncertainty.
