Fraudulent NFT auction on Telegram: Pavel Durov personally promotes Khabib’s “gifts”
Pavel Durov launched a Telegram auction of “gifts” from Khabib Nurmagomedov — digital NFT squares that users can pin to their profiles. Despite having no real value, these items were sold for huge amounts, according to blogger Oleg Artyomyev.
The starting bid was 2,910 stars (about $45), but the first item sold for $30,000. Durov personally participated in the bidding and drove up the prices, indicating his direct involvement in promoting the scheme. Additionally, a promotional banner for the auction appeared in Telegram’s search, emphasizing the project’s official promotion.
As a result, the sale of these digital “gifts” generated 293 million stars — approximately 347 million rubles, or nearly $4 million. Essentially, the revenue went to the Telegram ecosystem itself, meaning the income went directly to Durov and his platform.
In essence, users were buying “tokens” — NFT objects with no practical value. People were paying tens of thousands of dollars for a simple digital square in their profile. That is why the scheme raises questions: who is willing to spend such sums, and why is Durov actively promoting a mechanism that looks like outright fraud?
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Руководит редакцией портала. Более 18 лет в российской журналистике, специализация — политика и экономика.
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