Lex Fridman released a 4+ hour podcast episode (#482) featuring Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram. Titled Pavel Durov: Telegram, Freedom, Censorship, Money, Power & Human Nature, the conversation covers Durov’s philosophy on freedom, his arrest in France, encryption, Bitcoin investments, and the evolution of Telegram.
A notable highlight is Durov’s enthusiastic promotion of Telegram Gifts—a feature that integrates NFTs into the messaging app via the TON blockchain. This segment has generated buzz on X, with users calling it a “pitch” for the rapidly growing product.
Telegram Gifts are limited-edition digital collectibles essentially NFTs on TON that users can buy, send to friends in chats, or display on profiles. Launched around early 2025, they started as simple in-app purchases using Telegram’s “Stars” currency priced $2–$50 initially but have exploded in value on secondary markets.
For example: Rare items like a “plush Pepe” minted for ~$30 now trade for over $1,500 in TON equivalent. Even Durov himself spent $13,000 on a golden version earlier this year. The feature includes a built-in marketplace for instant trading, making it seamless within the app.
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Collaborations with influencers like Snoop Dogg’s collection generated $12 million in 30 minutes have fueled hype. In the podcast around the 3:44:23 timestamp on TON and NFTs, Durov positions Gifts as a “reinvented, socially relevant” evolution of NFTs—more aesthetic, shareable, and integrated than traditional ones.
He highlighted explosive Growth. Launched just six months prior, Gifts have made TON the #1 or #2 blockchain globally by daily NFT trading volume surpassing others despite Telegram’s lean team. People are building empires around it—one trader reportedly earned millions flipping Gifts.
Durov sees it sparking “new trends” with upcoming drops from artists and influencers. As a privacy-focused app, Telegram uses Gifts to blend fun, social sharing, and blockchain without heavy monetization pressure, Durov funds his lifestyle via early Bitcoin holdings, not app revenue.
Durov’s tone was promotional yet authentic, tying Gifts to Telegram’s mission of user empowerment. He contrasted it with “speculative” NFTs, emphasizing real utility like profile displays and gifting.
This promo aligns with Telegram’s crypto push via TON originally developed in 2018 for scalability. With 900M+ users, Gifts could mainstream NFTs by making them “socially relevant” and easy—think Reddit avatars meets Pokémon cards, but on blockchain. Early data shows $500K daily volume and 67K+ wallets engaged.
It’s also timely amid Durov’s post-arrest reflections on censorship resistance, positioning TON/Gifts as tools for financial freedom. This promo could accelerate TON’s market cap currently hovering around $15B+ post-episode by attracting more developers and traders.
Early data shows $500K+ daily volume from 67K+ wallets, with secondary market flips yielding millions for individuals—e.g., one trader Durov cited made “several million dollars” just buying and selling.
Expect a surge in influencer collaborations Snoop Dogg’s drop alone generated $12M in 30 minutes, creating a flywheel of hype and liquidity. Durov funds his lifestyle via early Bitcoin holdings thousands bought at ~$700 in 2013, not Telegram revenue, allowing the app to remain “money-losing” for him personally.
Gifts represent low-pressure monetization via Stars currency $2–$50 per item, potentially generating $100M+ annually if adoption scales, while tying into his $1M BTC prediction as a hedge against fiat instability.
By positioning Gifts as “fun and shareable” think digital Pokémon cards on blockchain, it could onboard Telegram’s 900M+ users to NFTs, reducing crypto’s speculative stigma and boosting TON’s TVL (total value locked) toward Ethereum rivals.
Gifts’ in-app marketplace and profile displays lower barriers to blockchain entry—no wallets or gas fees needed initially—making TON a “social layer” for NFTs. This could inspire ccompetitors like WhatsApp or Signal to embed crypto features, accelerating hybrid apps that fuse social and DeFi.
Durov touted TON’s origins 2018–2019 development for Telegram’s needs as superior for high-throughput apps like Gifts, handling explosive growth without centralization. More devs building on TON, potentially spawning “Gift empires” as Durov described, from custom collections to trading bots.
By emphasizing “aesthetic and shareable” over hype, Gifts could shift NFT paradigms toward utility gifting, displays vs. art speculation, fostering sustainable trends like artist drops. Gifts make NFTs “socially relevant,” enabling viral sharing in chats, which could normalize blockchain for non-crypto natives.
This aligns with Durov’s freedom ethos—users own and trade assets censorship-free—potentially sparking cultural trends like celebrity-endorsed drops more “designer gifts” incoming. The promo humanizes him post-arrest, blending vulnerability with vision, reinforcing his anti-establishment appeal.
Gifts on TON embody Durov’s “freedom > money” mantra, using decentralized tech to evade bans—ironic given criticisms of Telegram as a “Darknet interface” for shadow ops. Bolsters Telegram’s appeal in restricted regions like Russia, Iran but risks platform-wide blocks.
Durov’s story—from VK exile to TON revival—frames tech founders as sovereignty challengers, inspiring a “tech vs. state” ethos that resonates in Web3 ccommunities.
This promo signals Telegram’s pivot to a full Web3 ecosystem, leveraging Durov’s credibility to drive adoption while navigating his fraught history with power. It could make Gifts the “killer app” for social crypto, but success hinges on balancing innovation with regulatory savvy.