The price of Bitcoin alternative Toncoin (TON) fell Sunday by 16% (as of the time of writing), following the arrest of TON founder, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov.
Pavel Durov was arrested by French authorities after he landed during the weekend on a private jet at Le Bourget Airport, just north of Paris. Mr. Durov, a native of Russia who resides in the UAE and also holds French citizenship, was arrested under a warrant relating to supposed offenses connected to his Telegram app.
Specifically, Telegram is accused of being much less moderated than other messaging apps and social networks, allowing for the proliferation of illegal activity such as drug trafficking, child pornography, terrorism, and fraud to be organized on Telegram. Mr. Durov and Telegram are also accused of refusing to cooperate with authorities to help stop criminal activity on Telegram.
According to crypto price data, charting and info site Coinmarketcap, TON was down about 16% as of 12:00 GMT Sunday, trading at about $5.67 versus the $6.75-6.80 range late Saturday. TON is the native cryptocurrency of the decentralized layer-1 blockchain The Open Network (or TON), but was originally named Telegram Open Network. TON is not directly related any more to Telegram – in 2020, Pavel Durov announced the end of Telegram’s involvement with the TON Blockchain, following a court order by the SEC. However Telegram uses the TON blockchain, and its popularity (with a market cap above $14 billion) remains tied to Telegram.
TON share price past 24 hours. Source: Coinmarketcap.
Pavel Durov’s arrest is causing ripples well beyond the messaging / social media and crypto worlds, and is rapidly developing into an international incident. Russian authorities (via the Facebook page of the Embassy of Russia in France) wrote (translated):
After appearing in the media, news about the detention of P. Durov I immediately asked the French authorities for explanation on the reasons and demanded that his rights be protected and consular access be granted.
As of today, the French side is avoiding interaction on the issue.
I am in contact with P’s lawyer.
Elon Musk, who among other things runs rival social media platform X (formerly Twitter), tweeted out #FreePavel in support of his competitor.
