Telegram CEO Pavel Durov took to his messaging app to not only denounce the grounds of his recent arrest but also say that he's prepared to leave incompatible markets.
"Sometimes we can’t agree with a country’s regulator on the right balance between privacy and security. In those cases, we are ready to leave that country. We've done it many times," Durov said, citing Russia and Iran as two examples. "We are prepared to leave markets that aren’t compatible with our principles, because we are not doing this for money. We are driven by the intention to bring good and defend the basic rights of people, particularly in places where these rights are violated."
Last month, Durov was arrested at a Paris airport before then being indicted by a French court. He was indicted on charges of "complicity in the spread of sexual images of children and other crimes such as drug trafficking on the messaging app." The arrest was part of a broader cybercrime investigation involving Telegram's alleged role in enabling money laundering, child pornography, and drug trafficking through its cryptography tools and services.
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The popular messaging app generated a significant amount of its revenues from crypto-related activities. It held $400 million in digital assets as of 2023, according to a recent report from the Financial Times. Durov has said Telegram is worth at least $30 billion.
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