News Heat Trend
Project Overview
Telegram Messenger is a globally accessible freemium, cloud-based and centralized instant messaging (IM) service. The application also provides optional end-to-end encrypted chats (popularly known as "secret chats") and video calling, VoIP, file sharing and several other features.Telegram was launched in 2013 by the brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov. Previously, the pair founded the Russian social network VK.
AlphaTON Capital Plans to Raise $43 Million to Expand AI Computing Infrastructure
According to The Block, AlphaTON Capital has announced plans to raise $43 million through a strategic partnership with Vertical Data Inc. to expand its AI compute infrastructure; the transaction is expected to close in Q2 2026. AlphaTON CEO Brittany Kaiser stated that the funding will be used to deploy additional NVIDIA B300 GPUs, with the core objective of advancing the convergence of AI, digital assets, and confidential computing—and scaling up the platform’s overall compute capacity. On the business front, AlphaTON not only holds a substantial amount of TON tokens as corporate treasury assets but also actively participates in building infrastructure for the Telegram and TON ecosystems, with key investment focus areas including Cocoon, Telegram’s decentralized AI platform. Background-wise, AlphaTON was formed through the restructuring and transformation of former biotech public company Portage Biotech Inc., which had previously focused on cancer therapy research; the company completed the spin-off of its cancer therapy subsidiary in February this year.
AlphaTON and Vertical Data Announce $43 Million AI Infrastructure and Financing Partnership
AlphaTON Capital (NASDAQ: ATON) announced a strategic AI hardware and financing agreement with Vertical Data Inc., with a total transaction value of approximately $43 million, expected to close in Q2 2026. The agreement centers on deploying high-performance GPU clusters powered by NVIDIA’s B300 architecture. Financing will be provided through Vertical Data’s GPUfinancing.com platform via an asset-backed, non-recourse structure and includes managed infrastructure services. This expansion will support AlphaTON’s business initiatives with partners including Telegram, Gamee, Animoca Brands, and Midnight Blockchain.
Telegram Founder Durov Listed as "Terrorist" by Russia for Refusing to Comply with Mass Surveillance
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov (@durov) revealed in a post that the Russian government has designated him as a "terrorist" because he refused to comply with Russian demands to implement mass surveillance and content censorship on Telegram. Under relevant Russian laws, Durov is prohibited from "publishing any information on the internet." Durov responded to this by stating: "Russian officials obviously fail to understand who can actually kick whom off the internet."
Australian regulators filed a lawsuit against Telegram, alleging it failed to remove content supporting terrorism.
据 Cointelegraph 报道，澳大利亚互联网监管机构对 Telegram 提起法律诉讼，指控其未能移除支持恐怖主义的内容。
Russia Initiates Criminal Prosecution Against Durov, State Duma Recommends Citizens Stop Using Telegram Ecosystem Financial Services
Russian State Duma Committee on Information Policy Deputy Chairman Sventsov subsequently suggested that Russian citizens suspend all financial operations within the Telegram ecosystem, including paid subscriptions and purchasing TON/Gram tokens, and wait for official statements from Roskomnadzor and FSB before making further decisions.
Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Questioned by French Investigators for Over Six Hours
According to Cointelegraph, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was questioned by French investigators for more than six hours due to an ongoing criminal investigation. His lawyer stated that authorities do not yet possess evidence supporting the relevant charges.
US Department of Justice Seizes Huione Account Allegedly Laundering Billions of Dollars
: The US Department of Justice announced the seizure of an account that provided backend infrastructure for a subsidiary of Cambodia's Huione Group. Prosecutors stated that the account helped operate the Telegram marketplace Huione Guarantee, which matched stolen data, money laundering services, and tools for Southeast Asian scam operations.Additionally, on the same day, FinCEN took action to extend the existing Huione ban to its successor entity, H-Pay Service PLC, to prevent the group from circumventing US restrictions. According to court documents, the custody service operated by the account also assisted criminals, including money launderers, in cryptocurrency transactions. The case is currently being jointly investigated by the FBI's San Francisco office and IRS Criminal Investigation. (decrypt)
Polymarket Plans to Require Traders to Complete KYC Identity Verification Amid Growing Sanctions and Legal Risks
: Prediction market Polymarket is facing increased pressure from regulatory and sanctions compliance. It is reported that the platform is pushing traders to undergo identity verification (KYC) to mitigate potential legal and compliance risks.Although Polymarket's betting platform rules do not permit such activities in certain regions, some users have still been participating in market trading through automated trading bots and other methods, forming gray usage pathways in areas such as Russia. Some developers have even utilized tools like Telegram to organize trading traffic and expand their user base. As the platform scales and regulatory scrutiny intensifies, Polymarket is being forced to seek a balance between the decentralized prediction market model and compliance requirements to address potential sanctions and legal risks. (The Information)
Dragonfly Partner: Meme Coin Trading is Retail-Driven, Should Not Exhibit Weekend Lull Typical of Professional Markets
Odaily Odaily News: Dragonfly partner Haseeb posted on X platform, responding to doubts about the long-term stability of Pump.fun's revenue curve. He believes this phenomenon is not abnormal and, from a macro perspective, closely resembles the trend of overall crypto spot trading volume.Haseeb stated that some users suspect data anomalies because daily trading volume appears too stable, lacking a weekend dip. However, he argues this perspective overlooks the participant structure of the Meme coin market. Since Meme coin trading is primarily driven by retail investors, it does not experience a significant decline in trading volume on weekends, unlike markets dominated by professional traders and hedge funds such as Hyperliquid.Haseeb noted that users can verify this by examining Pump.fun's pre-issuance revenue data, which previously showed similar stability and does not indicate any irregularities. Additionally, he mentioned that trading terminals and Telegram bots have relatively high trading volumes, so their revenue is not necessarily highly correlated with Pump.fun itself. Currently, the revenue curve of the largest trading terminal, Axiom, closely resembles that of Pump.fun.
Court documents allege Jane Street used insider information from Terraform to short UST, profiting $134 million
According to recently unsealed court documents, Jane Street is alleged to have obtained insider information from Terraform Labs via a private Telegram group named "Bryce's Secret."The documents claim that Jane Street subsequently sold approximately $192 million worth of UST when it was near its peg price, and profited around $134 million by shorting UST during the collapse of TerraUSD and the evaporation of roughly $40 billion in market value from the Terra ecosystem. (CoinDesk)
Terraform Liquidator Accuses Jane Street of Obtaining Inside Information via Telegram Private Group
According to CoinDesk, newly unsealed court documents allege that Jane Street, a major Wall Street quantitative trading firm, obtained non-public internal information from Terraform Labs via a private Telegram group named “Bryce’s Secret” prior to the 2022 Terra collapse. The firm is accused of selling approximately $192 million worth of UST in advance and establishing short positions, thereby profiting roughly $134 million amid the collapse of the Terra ecosystem—valued at approximately $40 billion. The complaint states that on May 7, 2022—just nine minutes after Terraform withdrew $150 million in liquidity from the Curve pool—Jane Street sold around $85 million worth of UST on Curve. The associated wallet was subsequently suspected of being a key address contributing to UST’s de-pegging. However, Jane Street denies these allegations, calling the lawsuit “baseless,” and states it will vigorously defend itself.
ZachXBT: US 18-Year-Old Hacker Dritan Allegedly Involved in $19 Million Crypto Theft and Money Laundering
on-chain detective ZachXBT has exposed US threat actor Dritan Kapllani Jr., alleging his involvement in social engineering thefts targeting crypto users, totaling approximately $19 million.ZachXBT stated that Dritan has long been flaunting luxury cars,名牌 watches, private jets, and nightclub lifestyles on social media. On April 23, 2026, during a "Band 4 Band (B4B)" voice call on Discord, in an attempt to prove he was wealthier than another hacker, he publicly displayed an Exodus wallet containing $3.68 million in assets.The relevant ETH address is: 0x4487db847db2fc99372a985743a26f46e0b2bba6ZachXBT's tracking revealed that this address is linked to a social engineering theft incident on March 14, 2026, involving 185 BTC (approximately $13 million). The following day, Dritan's Exodus wallet received about $5.3 million from that theft. By the time of the B4B call six weeks later, approximately $1.6 million had already been spent or laundered.On May 11, the US Department of Justice unsealed a criminal indictment against Trenton Johnson, charging him with participation in the theft of 185 BTC. He faces a potential maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. The indictment refers to "Co-Conspirator 1 (CC-1)," believed to be Dritan, who has not yet been formally charged.ZachXBT also noted that Dritan is connected to hacker John Daghita (Lick), who was previously arrested for stealing $46 million from the US government. John had previously exposed Dritan's old wallet address on Telegram. On-chain analysis shows that this address is linked to multiple high-confidence social engineering thefts in 2025, with a cumulative total exceeding $5.85 million.ZachXBT stated that Dritan has long been active in the "The Com" hacker circle and had seemingly avoided formal prosecution due to being a minor. Now that he has turned 18, his "borrowed time may finally be over."
Hong Kong woman loses HK$7.7 million in cryptocurrency after falling for AI-powered quantitative trading scam
According to Hong Kong 01, a woman met a fraudster on Telegram who claimed to be an “investment expert.” The scammer lured her with promises of stable high returns using “quantitative trading” and “AI algorithms.” Believing the claims, the victim transferred approximately HK$7.7 million worth of USDT and ETH from her e-wallet to wallets designated by the fraudster in 17 separate transactions. When she attempted to withdraw funds, the scammer delayed and refused her requests with various excuses—only then did she realize she had been defrauded. Police warned that “high returns + low risk + low entry barrier” constitutes a 100% fraudulent “impossible triangle,” and urged the public to verify the authenticity of any investment platform before committing funds.
Hong Kong Police Unveil “AI Quantitative Guaranteed Profit” Cryptocurrency Scam; Victims Lose HK$7.7 Million
According to Hong Kong 01, Hong Kong police have disclosed a fraud case in which scammers lured victims into investing in cryptocurrencies under the guise of “AI-powered quantitative trading,” defrauding a woman of approximately HK$7.7 million. The fraudsters posed as “investment experts” and proactively contacted the victim via Telegram, claiming they could generate stable, high returns using “quantitative trading” and “AI algorithms.” The victim subsequently transferred USDT and ETH worth around HK$7.7 million from her digital wallet to designated addresses in 17 separate transactions. She only realized she had been scammed when her withdrawal request was denied. Hong Kong police warned that although cryptocurrencies offer the potential for high returns, they also carry high volatility and high risk. Claims of “AI-driven trading” or “guaranteed profits from quantitative strategies” are mostly fraudulent lures. The public should remain vigilant against the “impossible trinity” trap—promises of high returns, low risk, and low entry barriers.
ZachXBT Calls on Telegram Users to Support Channel Upgrade: Seeks to Disable Ads Due to Frequent Scam Advertisements
Odaily news "On-chain detective" ZachXBT posted in his personal channel, stating that Telegram continues to allow scam advertisements to be displayed to subscribers in his channel, impacting user experience and posing potential security risks.ZachXBT stated that if users are Telegram Premium members and wish to support upgrading his channel, they can help it reach the required level by using the channel's Boost function, thereby unlocking the ability to disable ads. Currently, the channel needs to reach Level 50 to enable the ad-disabling option.ZachXBT has long focused on scams, hacker attacks, and on-chain fund tracking within the crypto industry, and has repeatedly exposed incidents involving phishing attacks, fake projects, and fund theft.This time, he raised concerns about Telegram's advertising mechanism, arguing that the platform allowing scam advertisements to appear in crypto community channels may increase the risk of users encountering malicious links and fraudulent activities.
MacOS Malware Exposed: Can Hijack Telegram Sessions and Steal Crypto Wallet Data
security researchers have discovered an information-stealing malware targeting MacOS devices that is attacking crypto users. It can hijack Telegram Desktop sessions, steal passwords and wallet databases, further controlling user accounts and stealing digital assets. Affected wallets and applications include: Exodus, Atomic, Electrum, Wasabi, Monero, and others.Security experts advise that users with potentially infected devices should immediately treat them as "untrusted devices," terminate all active Telegram sessions, and change both their Telegram two-factor authentication password and desktop app password. Additionally, users should not enter seed phrases, private keys, or wallet passwords on the infected device, and should generate a new wallet and migrate their assets. (FinanceFeeds)
North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group deploys fileless RemotePE Trojan to target cryptocurrency firms and banks
According to Cryptopolitan, the North Korea–linked hacker group Lazarus Group has been found deploying the fileless remote access Trojan RemotePE, primarily targeting banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, and fintech companies. This malware runs entirely in memory and employs process hollowing, anti-analysis detection techniques, and encrypted C2 communications—making it difficult for traditional antivirus and forensic tools to detect. The report states that attacks typically begin with Telegram-based social engineering: attackers impersonate employees of trading firms and lure victims into installing malicious software using forged Calendly and Picktime links, ultimately executing the payload without touching the file system.
ZachXBT: US 18-Year-Old Hacker Dritan Allegedly Involved in $19 Million Crypto Theft and Money Laundering
on-chain detective ZachXBT has exposed US threat actor Dritan Kapllani Jr., alleging his involvement in social engineering thefts targeting crypto users, totaling approximately $19 million.ZachXBT stated that Dritan has long been flaunting luxury cars,名牌 watches, private jets, and nightclub lifestyles on social media. On April 23, 2026, during a "Band 4 Band (B4B)" voice call on Discord, in an attempt to prove he was wealthier than another hacker, he publicly displayed an Exodus wallet containing $3.68 million in assets.The relevant ETH address is: 0x4487db847db2fc99372a985743a26f46e0b2bba6ZachXBT's tracking revealed that this address is linked to a social engineering theft incident on March 14, 2026, involving 185 BTC (approximately $13 million). The following day, Dritan's Exodus wallet received about $5.3 million from that theft. By the time of the B4B call six weeks later, approximately $1.6 million had already been spent or laundered.On May 11, the US Department of Justice unsealed a criminal indictment against Trenton Johnson, charging him with participation in the theft of 185 BTC. He faces a potential maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. The indictment refers to "Co-Conspirator 1 (CC-1)," believed to be Dritan, who has not yet been formally charged.ZachXBT also noted that Dritan is connected to hacker John Daghita (Lick), who was previously arrested for stealing $46 million from the US government. John had previously exposed Dritan's old wallet address on Telegram. On-chain analysis shows that this address is linked to multiple high-confidence social engineering thefts in 2025, with a cumulative total exceeding $5.85 million.ZachXBT stated that Dritan has long been active in the "The Com" hacker circle and had seemingly avoided formal prosecution due to being a minor. Now that he has turned 18, his "borrowed time may finally be over."
SlowMist Discloses Phishing Campaign Involving Fake TronLink Chrome Extension That Steals Wallet Credentials Such as Mnemonics and Private Keys
According to SlowMist, its security monitoring system MistEye has detected a counterfeit TronLink Chrome MV3 extension targeting TRON wallet users with a two-layer phishing attack. The extension disguises itself as the official plugin using Unicode obfuscation and brand spoofing. Upon installation, it first loads a remote iframe-based pop-up page designed to trick users into entering their mnemonic phrases, private keys, keystore files, and passwords—then exfiltrates this sensitive data via same-origin APIs to a Telegram bot. The malicious infrastructure involved includes the domains tronfind-api[.]tronfindexplorer[.]com and trx-scan-explorer[.]org; the malicious extension ID is ekjidonhjmneoompmjbjofpjmhklpjdd. SlowMist advises users to immediately uninstall the extension. If sensitive information has already been submitted, users should promptly migrate their assets and discontinue use of the compromised wallet.
Bybit Discloses macOS Malware Campaign Targeting Searches for Claude Code
Bybit’s Security Operations Center has identified a multi-stage malware campaign targeting macOS users of Claude Code, an AI-powered search and development tool. Attackers used search engine optimization (SEO) poisoning to push malicious domains to the top of Google search results, luring users to counterfeit installation pages. Once installed, the malware steals browser credentials, macOS Keychain data, Telegram sessions, VPN configurations, and cryptocurrency wallet information. Bybit stated that the malware can also establish persistent access via backdoor functionality and attempts to target over 250 browser wallet extensions and multiple desktop wallet applications. This malicious infrastructure was identified on March 12, and related analysis, mitigation, and detection measures were completed the same day.
Telegram Founder Durov Listed as "Terrorist" by Russia for Refusing to Comply with Mass Surveillance
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov (@durov) revealed in a post that the Russian government has designated him as a "terrorist" because he refused to comply with Russian demands to implement mass surveillance and content censorship on Telegram. Under relevant Russian laws, Durov is prohibited from "publishing any information on the internet." Durov responded to this by stating: "Russian officials obviously fail to understand who can actually kick whom off the internet."
Australian regulators filed a lawsuit against Telegram, alleging it failed to remove content supporting terrorism.
据 Cointelegraph 报道，澳大利亚互联网监管机构对 Telegram 提起法律诉讼，指控其未能移除支持恐怖主义的内容。
ZachXBT Calls on Telegram Users to Support Channel Upgrade: Seeks to Disable Ads Due to Frequent Scam Advertisements
Odaily news "On-chain detective" ZachXBT posted in his personal channel, stating that Telegram continues to allow scam advertisements to be displayed to subscribers in his channel, impacting user experience and posing potential security risks.ZachXBT stated that if users are Telegram Premium members and wish to support upgrading his channel, they can help it reach the required level by using the channel's Boost function, thereby unlocking the ability to disable ads. Currently, the channel needs to reach Level 50 to enable the ad-disabling option.ZachXBT has long focused on scams, hacker attacks, and on-chain fund tracking within the crypto industry, and has repeatedly exposed incidents involving phishing attacks, fake projects, and fund theft.This time, he raised concerns about Telegram's advertising mechanism, arguing that the platform allowing scam advertisements to appear in crypto community channels may increase the risk of users encountering malicious links and fraudulent activities.
Telegram Founder Pavel Durov: The Largest Non-Custodial Crypto Wallet Deployment in History to Take Place This Summer
Odaily Odaily Telegram founder Pavel Durov posted on his personal channel that this summer will see the "largest non-custodial crypto wallet deployment in human history." Telegram plans to integrate the native non-custodial Gram wallet into all its applications. Pavel Durov stated that the wallet will provide over 1 billion Telegram users with instant, zero-fee cryptocurrency transaction experiences, further popularizing on-chain payments. He said, "We are bringing the native non-custodial Gram wallet into every Telegram application."
DuckChain reminds users to complete asset migration to TON before the network upgrade.
Telegram AI chain DuckChain tweeted that the network upgrade is about to commence, and assets still on DuckChain need to be bridged to TON prior to the upgrade to ensure normal asset access. The official team stated that once the upgrade window opens, access to assets on DuckChain will be restricted, and users are advised to complete migration and related unstaking operations as soon as possible to avoid service interruption.
MoonPay Acquires Glide, a Crypto Infrastructure Company Founded by Former Robinhood Wallet Engineers
: Fintech platform MoonPay has acquired crypto infrastructure startup Glide and will integrate its deposit and routing technology. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Glide was founded in 2023 by Tushar Soni and Qinyu Tong, both of whom were part of the Robinhood Wallet team. Glide supports over 100 tokens across 30 blockchain networks, helping applications receive deposits from various tokens, wallets, exchanges, and payment sources. Upon completion of the acquisition, Glide's technology will be integrated into MoonPay Deposits, a product already used by applications such as Wallet in Telegram, Moonshot, and Paysafe. MoonPay stated that this transaction is part of its efforts to expand its digital asset infrastructure capabilities. This is the sixth acquisition announced by MoonPay in 2026, following previous acquisitions of Sodot, Decent, DFlow, Entendre, and Dawn Labs. Its investors include Thrive Capital, Paradigm, Valhalla Ventures, Tiger Global Management, and Coatue.
Related news
Telegram Founder Durov Listed as "Terrorist" by Russia for Refusing to Comply with Mass Surveillance
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov (@durov) revealed in a post that the Russian government has designated him as a "terrorist" because he refused to comply with Russian demands to implement mass surveillance and content censorship on Telegram. Under relevant Russian laws, Durov is prohibited from "publishing any information on the internet." Durov responded to this by stating: "Russian officials obviously fail to understand who can actually kick whom off the internet."
Australian regulators filed a lawsuit against Telegram, alleging it failed to remove content supporting terrorism.
据 Cointelegraph 报道，澳大利亚互联网监管机构对 Telegram 提起法律诉讼，指控其未能移除支持恐怖主义的内容。
Russia Initiates Criminal Prosecution Against Durov, State Duma Recommends Citizens Stop Using Telegram Ecosystem Financial Services
Russian State Duma Committee on Information Policy Deputy Chairman Sventsov subsequently suggested that Russian citizens suspend all financial operations within the Telegram ecosystem, including paid subscriptions and purchasing TON/Gram tokens, and wait for official statements from Roskomnadzor and FSB before making further decisions.
Russian Federal Security Service Accuses Telegram Founder of Assisting Terrorist Activities
According to Reuters, the Russian Federal Security Service has accused Telegram founder Pavel Durov of facilitating terrorist activities. Authorities have issued an international arrest warrant.
ZachXBT Calls on Telegram Users to Support Channel Upgrade: Seeks to Disable Ads Due to Frequent Scam Advertisements
Odaily news "On-chain detective" ZachXBT posted in his personal channel, stating that Telegram continues to allow scam advertisements to be displayed to subscribers in his channel, impacting user experience and posing potential security risks.ZachXBT stated that if users are Telegram Premium members and wish to support upgrading his channel, they can help it reach the required level by using the channel's Boost function, thereby unlocking the ability to disable ads. Currently, the channel needs to reach Level 50 to enable the ad-disabling option.ZachXBT has long focused on scams, hacker attacks, and on-chain fund tracking within the crypto industry, and has repeatedly exposed incidents involving phishing attacks, fake projects, and fund theft.This time, he raised concerns about Telegram's advertising mechanism, arguing that the platform allowing scam advertisements to appear in crypto community channels may increase the risk of users encountering malicious links and fraudulent activities.
Telegram Founder Pavel Durov: The Largest Non-Custodial Crypto Wallet Deployment in History to Take Place This Summer
Odaily Odaily Telegram founder Pavel Durov posted on his personal channel that this summer will see the "largest non-custodial crypto wallet deployment in human history." Telegram plans to integrate the native non-custodial Gram wallet into all its applications. Pavel Durov stated that the wallet will provide over 1 billion Telegram users with instant, zero-fee cryptocurrency transaction experiences, further popularizing on-chain payments. He said, "We are bringing the native non-custodial Gram wallet into every Telegram application."