Telegram Defies Russian Ban, Offers Users Blockchain-based Data Storage

Telegram has created the first service for its future TON (Telegram Open Network) platform and tested it in closed mode, two people close to the company told Vedomosti.

The company’s innovation – Telegram Passport will make it possible to identify Telegram users – all necessary documents and data will need to be uploaded to the messenger once, then Telegram could instantly transfer it to their partner services, a source close to Telegram technical team told the newspaper. According to one of the newspaper’s sources, Telegram Passport might start operating by the beginning of the summer.

According to the report, TON will handle a cryptocurrency called Gram, which will become the main currency of Telegram’s internal economy. Telegram Passport will help avoid the anonymity of crypto-currency payments, which worries regulators all over the world, Alexander Filatov, a partner at SP Capital, told the newspaper. Telegram Passport will be able to amass passports, international passports, driver’s licenses, utility bills, bank account certificates and other documents, and request to take a picture of the user.

It is expected that by the time the new service is launched users will be able to take advantage of the services of several partners, one of the sources said, without specifying the partner companies. However, Qiwi payment system has already received access to the technology.

All access to any personal data and copies of documents sent to Telegram would remain only with users. They will encrypt the documents using two-factor authentication passwords and the messenger will not have access to them, the sources said.

The new Telegram service is announced after a lengthy row between the messenger and Russia’s state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor. The agency banned the app in the country last month after Telegram refused to hand over their user’s personal data to Russia’s security authorities.