Telegram Digital Resistance: The Open Network And Russia's Ban

Telegram has been called the "Cryptocurrency world's preferred messaging app" by many media outlets including Forbes, and more than 84 percent of Blockchain-based projects have an active Telegram community.

For over 48 hours now, Telegram has been under a ban by internet service providers in Russia.

Telegram users all over Russia almost did not feel any difficulty in accessing the Telegram service, while a lot of other Russian Websites, even state ones, saw troubles, as Roskomnadzor has blocked almost 20 mln IP-addresses, mostly owned by Amazon and Google cloud storage, trying to come after Telegram.

Based on data from Tokenmarket, Telegram has more ICO discussion groups than any other messaging application as shown by the graph below from Telegram's ICO white paper.

The Telegram Open Network will be the launch pad for "The Open Network" and in 2021 the "Telegram" name will be dropped, as clearly stated in the white paper.

Telegram has appealed the decision but, given that Telegram's founders were forced to sell their previous company after losing a legal battle with the Russian government, the situation is very concerning.

The main benefit that Telegram offers to its users is privacy and security; if they give the encryption keys away, users' private information would then be compromised.

Decentralized VPNs are using Blockchain technology and are backed by renowned investors such as Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, and Tim Draper's DFJ. While Russia and Iran are trying to ban Telegram, they could face strong resistance from the users who might start using services such as decentralized VPNs. Furthermore, the huge amount of funds raised by Telegram in their two pre-ICO rounds means that they have a lot of resources to improve their services and to protect themselves from attempts to obtain the encryption keys or to ban the app.

Telegram plays a key role in the crypto community and beyond in ensuring the security and privacy of its users.

Whether Russian Roskomnadzor eventually manages to limit the access to Telegram to the country's users or not, it could actually help attract more people from the crypto community as the messenger improves its efforts to keep users' information anonymous and secure.