Telegram Wallet Ban: Why Popular Social Media Platform Suspended Services in UK?

Pavel Durov’s social media platform is the new center of controversy, leading to the Telegram wallet ban in the UK. It happened weeks after the French authorities charged the Telegram CEO with 12 criminal charges, including the failure to control the spread of illegal content on the platform. After this arrest, the platform implemented many changes, disappointing application users.

There was a time when Pavel had flown from Russia to maintain the utmost privacy for the users. However, that has slowly changed since his arrest, as he has already made significant changes, limiting the user’s privacy. It began with the illegal content reporting options to share IP addresses to regulators, confirming how Pavel’s application is bowing to regulatory pressure. 

Why The UK Has Implemented The Telegram Wallet Ban?

The recent Telegram wallet ban indicates the platform is bowing to all the regulatory pressure from the UK. However, the country itself has not officially put the ban. Instead, the crypto wallet provider decided to undergo this process to perform a mandatory restructuring to comply with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulations.

As the wallet application has become part of The Open Network, it created the demand for restructuring per the UK’s recent rules. More importantly, the platform needs to register itself as a crypto asset provider to gain approval from officials before restarting its services.

The Telegram wallet team made an official announcement on September 25, revealing that the wallet features are no longer available to UK users, as they have decided on a temporary ban. It has further revealed that users are allowed to withdraw their holdings and transfer to other crypto wallets without any charges during this period.

Is Pavel Duorv Behind This Telegram Wallet Ban?

Like many other countries, the UK has also stricken its regulations around the crypto industry. After facing many money laundering and financial crimes, the FCA has introduced strict laws around Fintech platforms, which also cover the Telegram wallet ban. Though this decision is for good, it has become burdensome on the entire crypto industry and this social media platform. This Telegram wallet service block has become a prime example of how the country is strictening regulations.

To many’s surprise, this Telegram wallet news is not associated with Pavel Durov’s arrest. It is because the social media platforms and their operations are separate from the wallet business. This confirms Pavel Durov’s non-engagement in this decision. However, despite that, it is concerning as it might be an indication of the possible further changes. With such new changes, many have questioned whether Telegram has become the new Facebook.

Telegram has gained heavy popularity among the crypto community for privacy and the launch of popular tap-to-earn games like Hamster Kombat, which just began the Interlude season. However, the same characteristics have highlighted this social media platform in front of government officials, causing regulatory disagreements.  Pavel Durov’s arrest was also related to this, leading to the platform’s policy shifts. Even the Telegram wallet ban has forced it to hold its services in the UK and get a Crypto asset provider license before resuming services.

Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.