Millions on digital squares: how Telegram founder Pavel Durov is personally promoting a suspicious auction featuring Khabib Nurmagomedov’s lots
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has launched an auction of “gifts” from Khabib Nurmagomedov — the former UFC lightweight champion and one of the world’s most famous mixed martial artists.
The starting price for these digital NFT squares was 2,910 stars (about $45), but the very first lot sold for $30,000. According to Artemyev, Durov personally took part in the bidding and artificially pushed the prices up, showing direct involvement in promoting the scheme. A promotional banner for the auction also appeared in Telegram’s search, indicating official platform support for the project.
Overall, the sale of these “gifts” brought in 293 million stars — roughly 347 million hryvnias, or nearly $4 million. This revenue was effectively earned by the Telegram ecosystem — meaning the profit went directly to Durov and his platform.
In reality, users were buying digital trinkets — NFT items with no actual value. People were paying tens of thousands of dollars simply to obtain a small square in their messenger profile. This is why the scheme appears suspicious and increasingly resembles a scam, and Durov’s active participation only reinforces these concerns.
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