Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, has revealed that his personal lifestyle is funded by early investments in Bitcoin, not by the company he runs, during an appearance on Lex Fridman’s podcast.
Durov explained his early conviction in the digital asset, stating that he was a big believer in Bitcoin since its inception. He got to buy his first few thousand Bitcoin in 2013, and he “didn’t care much,” he said, specifying that he invested “a couple of million there” when the price was at a “local maximum” of approximately $700 per coin. Following his purchase, the price of Bitcoin fell below $200 in the subsequent bear market, a situation that drew ridicule from some acquaintances. Durov stated his response at the time was, “I don’t care.”
He elaborated on his refusal to sell his holdings during the downturn, affirming his belief in the cryptocurrency’s fundamental principles. “I’m not going to sell it. I believe in this thing. I think this is the way money should work,” Durov commented. He highlighted its key attributes, noting, “Nobody can confiscate your Bitcoin from you. Nobody can censor you for political reasons.”
Durov directly addressed misconceptions about his personal wealth and its connection to his company. “Some people think if I’m able to rent nice locations or fly private, it’s because I somehow extract money from Telegram,” he stated. He clarified the financial reality of the situation: “Like I said, Telegram is a money‑losing operation for me personally. Bitcoin is something that allowed me to stay afloat.”
Looking ahead, Durov offered a prediction on Bitcoin’s future value, suggesting “it will come to a point when Bitcoin is worth $1 million.” He attributed this potential growth to the monetary policies of governments, which are “printing money like no tomorrow.” He contrasted this with Bitcoin’s fixed supply, stating, “Nobody’s printing Bitcoin,” and pointing to its predictable inflation model that will eventually cease. He concluded the comparison by stating, “Bitcoin is here to stay. All the fiat currencies remain to be seen.”
During the discussion, Durov also spoke about the Telegram Open Network (TON), a topic raised in the context of his arrest in France a year ago on charges of facilitating crimes committed by Telegram users. He explained that TON was developed between 2018 and 2019 to serve as a blockchain infrastructure for the messaging service. He noted that established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether were “not scalable enough to cope with the load that our hundreds of millions of users would create.” The project’s key innovation was its use of “shardchains” to provide inherent scalability.
Despite developing the technology, Telegram was unable to launch the network due to regulatory restrictions imposed in the United States. The project, now operating independently as The Open Network, has become deeply integrated within the Telegram application. It has recently gained significant traction in the market for non‑fungible tokens (NFTs). According to Durov, “TON has become, I think, the largest or the second largest blockchain in terms of daily NFT trading volumes.” The network’s native token, Toncoin, reached an all-time high of $8.25 in mid-2024, but its value has since decreased by more than 67% from that peak.
