The popular encrypted e-mail application Telegram will launch its own platform Blockchain and cryptocurrency, sources said close to the file. The new platform will be dubbed "The Open Network" or "Telegram Open Network" (TON) and should be based on an improved version of Blockchain technology.

The first reports of the new platform have surfaced today. Anton Rozenberg, a former employee of the publishing division of Telegram Telegraph. Rozenberg posted on Facebook what he claims to be an advertisement video for the new platform (he did not reveal the source of the video). He also stressed that YOUR would be consistent with Durov's goal of helping those who are under oppressive governments because they would be able to transfer money natively through the application messaging. This could be used to break the state's control over the citizens' money, added Rozenberg.

Cointelegraph learned that the motto of TON will be called "Gram" and the platform form will be natively integrated with most of the most popular email applications (we do not yet know which ones). The platform will use lightweight portfolios, which saves users from downloading a bulky and bulky blockchain.

The TON platform will also not need a bootstrap period of several years like most new platforms. The Telegram app already has 180 million users, according to Bloomberg

Telegram is already very popular with the Blockchain community, as Durov himself has proclaimed:

"As now, the Blockchain and the cryptocurrency community just switched to Telegram."

Cointelegraph reached out to Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov, but n & # Has not yet received an answer. Although unofficially confirmed, the creation of TON is consistent with a previous Bloomberg article, which reads:

"[Durov] sees Telegram as a charity that it will begin to monetize at beginning of next year »

The Mark Zuckerberg of Russia

The enigmatic Pavel Durov teamed up with his brother to launch Telegram in 2013. L & # The application prides itself on encryption, making it extremely useful for dissidents and ordinary citizens living under oppressive regimes.In fact, according to Bloomberg, Telegram accounts for 40% of Iran's Internet traffic. so upset by the characteristics of the private life of the application that they accused Durov, in absentia, of terrorism.

Durov is not terribly disturbed; he has l & # 39; 39, habit of defending governments He and his brother co – founded Russia 's largest social network, VK, by building a company worth more than $ 3 billion. VK was actually quite similar to Facebook, but while Zuckerberg was able to keep control (and massive participation), Durov was not. When he refused to pass on personal information to the Russian authorities, he was forced to sell his stake in the company to one of Putin's allies. So, while Zuckerberg had the option of an IPO, Durov uses an ICO to monetize his creation.

After being chased out of VK, Durov definitively leaves Russia, taking away $ 300 million and 2000 Bitcoins. . He took his substantial fortune with him to St. Kitts and Nevis, investing enough in the Caribbean nation to become a citizen. However, he spends most of his time in Dubai.

Durov insists that Telegram is not for sale at any price, because the privacy of its users is too valuable to risk: