Welcome back to The Breakdown with me, NLW.

It's a daily podcast on macro, Bitcoin, and the big-picture power shifts remaking our world.

What's going on, guys? It is Tuesday, August 27th, and today we are catching up on Pavel Durov

as well as turning back to Jackson Hole. Before we get into that, however, if you are enjoying

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dive deeper into the conversation, come join us on the Breakers Discord. You can find a link in the show notes or go to bit.ly slash

breakdown pod. Hello friends, we kick off today with a follow-up from yesterday's episode,

because we have now gotten an update from French prosecutors on the arrest of Telegram CEO

Pavel Duroff. A statement explained that Durav's arrest was part of a cybercrime investigation

into an unnamed person which commenced

in early July. An extensive list of charges are being considered. These include complicity in the

sale of narcotics, organized fraud, the sale of hacking tools, and multiple other crimes

conducted using Telegram. These potential charges are presumably similar to being an accomplice

to a crime under U.S. law and seemed to refer to liability for user behavior.

There was also a string of potential charges related to Telegram's lack of engagement with law enforcement.

One charge was referred to as a, quote, refusal to communicate at the request of competent

authorities, information or documents necessary for carrying out and operating interceptions

allowed by law. The unnamed person is also facing charges related to offering

encrypted messaging, including providing cryptology services aiming to ensure confidentiality without

certified declaration. My feelings on this were best summed up by Arthur Bratman, who wrote,

I think it was wise to wait until the charges were released before making hasty statements about the

arrest of Durov. With that said,

...