Russia restricts Telegram as crypto community seeks alternatives

Russia has been trying to restrict access to Telegram for several weeks now and the country’s crypto community is struggling to find a decent substitute.

After an initial slowdown, attempts to block the messenger started ahead of a reported April 1 deadline for the messenger’s compliance with Moscow’s requirements.

Telegram users in Russia report issues with the service

Russian authorities have been ramping up pressure on Telegram for months under the pretext that the messaging app is not complying with local rules, most notably regarding the removal of content prohibited in the country.

Voice calls through the platform were limited in August 2025, with regulators claiming it had become a favorite tool for fraudsters, extremists and cybercriminals.

Last month, Russia’s telecom watchdog, Roskomnadzor (RKN), began slowing down traffic to the messenger, again citing non-compliance with Russian law.

In mid-February, the Telegram channel Baza revealed that the agency, which also acts as a media censor, intends to commence the full blocking of the messaging service on the first day of April. The RKN neither confirmed, nor denied reports quoting the post.

However, user signals about difficulties from across the vast country started mounting well ahead of that deadline to meet government demands, as reported by Cryptopolitan.

Websites like Detector404.ru and Cбой.рф have been receiving a flow of reports of network failures and other issues with both the mobile app and the desktop version affecting various features.

Spikes were registered throughout the past several weeks, including on Wednesday. As of the time of writing, Detector404 has received at least 5,500 reports in the past 24 hours.

According to data compiled by the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), a global platform tracking online censorship, anomalies increased in mid-March and Russian internet service providers began actively blocking Telegram on March 20.

Yet, the messenger’s estimated availability in Russia remained at around 40% by the end of the month, as noted by the leading Russian crypto news outlet Bits.media. The percentage represents the share of users who could still reach the service without means to circumvent restrictions.

Is there a Telegram alternative for Russian crypto enthusiasts?

Telegram became Russia’s most popular messenger this year, with over 95 million active users in January, overtaking Meta’s WhatsApp, which has been blocked since the RKN removed its domain from its DNS servers.

In February, founder Pavel Durov accused Moscow of trying “to force its citizens to switch to a state-controlled app built for surveillance and political censorship.”

He was likely referring to Russia’s so-called “national messenger” Max, which already has over 100 million users, according to stats quoted by official media, including a daily audience of 70 million.

However, finding an independent and viable alternative to Telegram is not an easy task. Russia has already banned a number of other platforms such as Viber, Signal and Discord.

Instead, members of the crypto community have been looking for ways to maintain communication through their favorite messenger by employing tools to bypass restrictions such as VPNs.

“There’s little point in jumping between messengers. Others will also be at risk of being blocked as they become more popular,” commented Bits.media founder Ivan Tikhonov, who recommended that crypto projects take into consideration where their audience is.

Some believe there’s hardly a substitute for Telegram, mainly because of the ecosystem built around the messaging platform, including mini apps and bots.

According to Sarkis Darbinyan, co-founder of Roskomsvoboda, a Russian NGO resisting internet censorship, Telegram is hard to replace due to its convenience and functionality, although platforms like the decentralized, open-source Deltachat offer anonymous messaging, too.

“I like Matrix and its client Element, I like Deltachat. But for bots, there’s no better platform than Telegram,” added the lawyer who is not convinced one should rush to change apps.

Darbinyan also quoted an estimate, according to which almost a third of the Russian internet users already had a VPN last year, and by the end of this one their share may reach 50%.

Telegram has been widely used not just by ordinary Russian citizens and businesses, but also state agencies like Roskomnadzor itself. Its numerous information channels have become an invaluable news source.

A recent report revealed Russian authorities have been thwarting protests in defense of Telegram. Officials have previously indicated the messenger may continue to operate in the country if it complies with all its requirements.

The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.