Russia is banning Telegram due to concerns over cryptocurrency project

Although the official reasons for banning Telegram in Russia has been named the company’s refusal to show encrypted user messages, as required by Russian law, reports have emerged that officials are more worried about the company’s cryptocurrency. 

The news broke after the Russian business daily RBC published an informal note allegedly written by an employee of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Roman Antipkin, to his colleagues:

“This story is not about that, can’t you understand? It is not about [encryption] keys and terrorism (…). Pasha [diminutive for Pavel] Durov has decided to become a new Mavrodi,” Antipkin is quoted as writing, in a reference to Sergei Mavrodi, an Russian fraudster who founded a huge Ponzi scheme in the 1990s.

“If they will launch their own cryptocurrency, we’ll get an absolutely uncontrollable financial system in Russia. This won’t be just bitcoins for mavericks, it will be simple, safe and uncontrolled. This compromises our national security (…). All drugs, illegal cash, organ trade operations will be performed with the help of Pasha’s cryptocurrency, and he will say: ‘I have nothing to do with this. But you can ban words used by terrorists,’” the FSB employee wrote, according to RBC.

The letter refers to the TON cryptocurrency project, which Telegram plans to develop after raising more than USD 2 billion in its ICO.

RBC learned from several sources that Antipkin participated in a variety of meetings on behalf of the Federal Security Service — in particular, meetings dedicated to the implementation of the legislation on electronic communications.

But Antipkin denied to be the author of any letter. “Everyone lies, I have no comments and I don’t understand what you’re talking about,” he said to an RBC journalist who reached him on the phone.

Neither the FSB’s press service nor Pavel Durov answered RBC’s questions.

This story was first published on EWDN.com (http://www.ewdn.com), the leading publication on the Russian digital industries, and can be read here.