RBC: Telegram was blocked because of Durov’s plans to create a cryptocurrency

The real reason for blocking Telegram could not be the fight against terrorism or even an attempt to block anonymous Telegram channels. The FSB decided to block the messenger due to its intention to create a "completely uncontrolled financial system," found out . RBC

• This is stated in a letter that an employee of the 12th center of the FSB (“information security center”) Roman Antipkin sent to colleagues.
• In it, the author claims that the story of blocking Telegram is “not about keys and terrorism.” desire According to him, the reason for the blocking is Durov's to become the "new Mavrodi" and create a financial system that is not controlled by the state.

Quote

“<...> This is not bitcoin for the marginalized, it will be simple, reliable and uncontrolled. This is a threat to the security of the country <…>. All drugs, cash, organ trade will go through Pasha’s crypt, and he will say: “I have nothing to do with it, ban words, they are used by terrorists”

• The authenticity of the letter sent from the domain 12center.ru was confirmed by one federal official and a top manager of a mobile operator, the source of RBC in one of the near-government organizations is familiar with its content.
• Also, market participants claim that Antipkin, who wrote the letter, has repeatedly represented the 12th center of the FSB at meetings, including on the Yarovaya package. He himself declined to comment.

Cryptocurrency Durov

• Durov's plans to launch the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain platform with the Gram cryptocurrency became known at the end of 2017. It is planned to be implemented in the Telegram messenger and, in the future, in other services and social networks.
• At the beginning of 2018, Telegram held two closed rounds of ICOs, during which they raised $1.7 billion. Among the investors of the first round are Sergey Solonin, the founder of Qiwi, and David Yakobashvili, the founder of Wimm-Bill-Dann.
• In a model agreement between Telegram Group Inc. and the investor separately noted that the buyer of tokens does not have the right to use them to circumvent sanctions, money laundering and terrorist financing.

How Telegram was blocked

• In early April, Roskomnadzor (RKN) filed a lawsuit with the Tagansky District Court demanding that Telegram be blocked in Russia. The official reason is Durov's refusal to follow the law and hand over the keys to decrypt users' correspondence.
• On April 13, the court granted the claim and the department's petition for the immediate execution of the decision. Roskomnadzor began blocking IP addresses used by Telegram.
• Since several resources often use one IP, hundreds of sites that have nothing to do with Telegram have suffered. 0.4% of the entire Russian Internet, or more than 18 million addresses, fell under the blocking, a significant part of them belong to Amazon and Google.
• Today it became known that the IP addresses of Microsoft became victims of the fight between the ILV and Telegram. Roskomnadzor entered more than 130,000 IP addresses of its Azure cloud service into the register of prohibited resources.

What do I get from this?

The blocking of Telegram and the actions of Roskomnadzor that followed it have become, perhaps, the most discussed topic in recent weeks in Russia. If you use a messenger, this concerns you directly: you have to deal with VPN and proxy. It is useful to know why this actually happened and what the state is afraid of.

Anastasia Stogney