Pavel Durov Starts Paying Bitcoin Grants to Proxy/VPN Services

Read more at https://en.insider.pro/topnews/2018-04-17/pavel-durov-starts-paying-bitcoin-grants-proxyvpn-services/

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Pavel Durov Starts Paying Bitcoin Grants to Proxy/VPN Services

The statement comes after Russia’s state telecommunications regulator on Monday started blocking access to messenger service Telegram.

Telegram messaging service might get blocked in Russia
It appears that Telegram will not provide FSB with any keys and will therefore be blocked in Russia. There is an established procedure for blocking messaging services which was already tested on other services (such as Line and Zello). However, the question remains how blocking will be technically done.

Theoretically, the authorities can block specific IP addresses of Telegram which can be problematic if Telegram uses a lot of IP addresses and is able to change them quickly. Some technical specialists claim this is how Zello currently bypasses the blocking, i.e. by frequently changing their IP address. However, even if Telegram took this approach, it would still decrease the number of users, since frequent unavailability of the service would be inconvenient for most of the users.

The second option could be DPI (deep packet inspection) equipment which would search for Telegram in online traffic and decrease its capacity. However, such an option has never been tested in practice by Russian telecom operators, and according to their representatives the operators are not technically prepared to do so.

We have even more information about messaging app Telegram’s plans for cashing in on its popularity within the crypto community with the massive ICO for its proposed Telegram Open Network (TON) project (that we first reported), after obtaining the whitepaper and investor prospectuses in full.

From the documents, it is clear that Telegram isn’t content with sitting on a platform like Ethereum for its token sale and services, as most ICOs are. Instead, it wants to create a platform of its own to rival Ethereum for hosting a new wave of decentralized services and internet experiences tipped to emerge thanks to the blockchain.

Telegram’s ICO will be a record if all goes according to plan, but that’s only the start.

The company plans to raise a staggering $1.2 billion in total, starting with a $600 million pre-sale that’s strictly for traditional venture capital backers and those inside its executive’s close circles. That first stage is running from January to February by invite-only, according to the letters sent to selected participants that were viewed by TechCrunch.

Following the pre-sale, the firm plans to hold a public sale in March which will allow retail investors to enter. The public sale is pegged at $600 million, which would make the overall ICO worth $1.2 billion. That blows any other token sale out of the water, and it would easily surpass the current record of $257 million raised by Filecoin in September.

In this group we will publish new insights about the TON project. We are waiting for the official announcement of ICO.
P.s. I am sincerely convinced that this is the cfra in which the blockage is necessary.

Telegram-TON integration will provide a clear path to cryptocurrencies for millions
of people. Telegram Messenger will not only serve as an example of the possibilities
offered by integrating with TON, but will also add unique features to the TON
platform, leveraging Telegram’s massive user base and developed ecosystem.