Pavel Durov
Russian tech and political executives denounce crypto ban proposal
Russia’s recent ban on crypto has drawn criticism from a number of big names, including Alexei Navalny’s chief of staff Leonid Volkov, and Telegram founder Pavel Durov. On Jan. 20, Russia’s Central Bank published a report proposing a blanket ban on domestic crypto trading and mining. The report stated that the risks of crypto are “much higher for emerging markets, including Russia.” However, it appears that this proposed ban isn’t universally accepted in the country. A Jan. 22 post by the Telegram founder, Pavel Durov stated that the proposed ban on crypto would “destroy a number of sectors of the high-tech economy.” He added: “Such a ban will inevitably slow down the development of blockchain technologies in general. These technologies improve the efficiency and safety of many human ...
Telegram-verified payments bot to accept Toncoin cryptocurrency
Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov has expressed excitement about the Telegram Open Network (TON) technology still developing after Telegram officially abandoned the project last year. “I’m proud that the technology we created is alive and evolving. When it comes to scalability and speed, TON is still years ahead of everything else in the blockchain realm,” Durov said in a Telegram post on Thursday. He noted that the project rebranded from TON to Toncoin. Unlike the original TON, the new project is independent of Telegram. “But I wish its team the same success. Coupled with the right go-to-market strategy, they have all they need to build something epic,” he noted. Durov’s remarks came amid Donate, a Telegram-verified payments service, preparing to enable donations on Telegram using t...
WhatsApp delays data sharing change after backlash
WhatsApp on Friday postponed a data-sharing change as users concerned about privacy fled the Facebook-owned messaging service and flocked to rivals Telegram and Signal. The smartphone app, a huge hit across the world, cancelled its February 8 deadline for accepting an update to its terms concerning sharing data with Facebook, saying it would use the pause to clear up misinformation around privacy and security. “We’ve heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update,” WhatsApp said in a blog post. “This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook.” It said it would instead “go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.” The update concerns how merchants using WhatsApp to cha...
