Telegram Messenger Founder: Holds “Hundreds of Millions” of Fiat and Bitcoin

Golden Finance reports that Pavel Durov, the founder of encrypted instant messaging app Telegram Messenger, predicts that increased government surveillance will force the creation of secure communication devices inspired by cryptocurrency hardware wallets. However, Durov believes that increasing regulation will force innovation in hardware devices dedicated to secure communication “just like we do with hardware wallets to store cryptocurrencies.” When it comes to company ownership, Durov said he avoids venture capital (VC) investments to prevent outside influence on how Telegram operates. He revealed that he holds “hundreds of millions” of dollars in fiat and Bitcoin, which allows him to bootstrap his projects and companies with 100% ownership. However, he did raise funds for several projects in the past, one of which was a cryptocurrency project.