A TON of Challenges: Resistance Is Nothing New to Pavel Durov

The serial entrepreneur announced and made moves to release the Telegram Open Network, or TON - the blockchain associated with his Telegram messaging app.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission had other plans for the launch of Telegram's new blockchain product, filing an emergency restraining order in October in an effort to halt the initial coin offering after it raised $1.7 billion in an unregistered sale.

Telegram boasts some 200 million users around the world, and the TON blockchain would give them a token-enabled economy to participate in online.

Durov is no stranger to controversy, especially when it comes to his native Russian government.

Durov and his brother had already launched Telegram in mid-2013, so they simply began focusing on that.

Fresh off the heels of a presale in March 2018, Durov and his brother indicated their preparedness to launch that autumn, but it so far isn't happening.

It's been a year marked by bureaucracy and hindered progress for Durov.

We'll see if they can extricate themselves from a legal puzzle created by an SEC that seems increasingly motivated to make an example out of TON. If anything, the resistance is probably more galvanizing to Durov than anything else.

Durov got his entrepreneurial start in Russia, and has significant experience handling business pressure and hardship at the hands of the government there.

Durov exhibits certain mindfulness practices - he meditates, doesn't eat meat, and keeps a consistently cool demeanor in public.