🪙 Good week for TON. Verb, a NASDAQ-listed company that has chosen TON as its primary asset, has successfully raised $558 million to begin buying and stockpiling TON immediately.

Meanwhile, Coinbase Ventures has also started accumulating TON.

Exciting times ahead! 🚀

👨‍🏫 A month ago, my father — a leading expert in Ancient Roman literature — turned 80. I asked what advice I should pass to the next generation. He gave me 3:

👨‍💻 1. Lead by example. People — especially kids — follow what you do, not what you say. Watching my father work tirelessly on numerous books and scientific papers showed me and my brother the meaning of dedication and inspired us to work hard too.

💖 2. Focus on the positive. Growing up in post-war Leningrad, my father learned to control emotions to be a positive force for his family, colleagues and society. He taught me to frame thoughts in ways that bring the most good, even in hard times.

🫡 3. Prioritize conscience. Studying and translating thinkers from Julius Caesar to Seneca, my father saw that morals outlast talent. Moral compass, unlike intelligence or creativity, is the ultimate human quality that will not lose value even in the age of AI.

1️⃣2️⃣ As Telegram turns 12 today, I want it to keep following my father’s advice — and:

🏆 Lead by example, setting trends for the messaging world.

🚀 Be a positive force, bringing joy to our users.

❤️ Prioritize conscience, staying true to our principles.

🍬 To celebrate Telegram’s birthday and the summer holiday season, we’re dropping some limited-edition gifts within the next hour: Durov’s Sunglasses, Resistance Dog, Sandcastle, Surfboard and Pink Flamingo 🎁

🕶🕶🕶🕶 Telegram’s birthday/summer gifts sold out in under 3 minutes, grossing over $11M.
To make this round fairer, we limited purchases of Durov’s Sunglasses 🕶 (~$600, max 3 per user) and Resistance Dog 🕶 (~$100, max 5 per user) to Premium users only. Still, both sold out in 15 seconds. 🥹

Should we release 2-3 more gifts on September 1st with even tighter buying restrictions? 🤔