The Toncoin rate fell by more than 14% after reports of the detention of Pavel Durov in France. The founder of Telegram was arrested at Paris airport on charges of involvement in crimes related to insufficient moderation of the messenger.
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The news of Durov’s arrest led to a significant drop in the value of the Toncoin (TON) cryptocurrency associated with Telegram. At the time of writing, Toncoin is trading around $5.75, down 14.5% from its previous level, according to CoinDesk and exchange data. At the same time, the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), which measures the performance of the largest digital assets, remains stable, showing an increase of 0.79%.
Let us remind you that Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested yesterday at Le Bourget airport in accordance with a warrant issued by the Office for the Prevention of Violence against Minors (OFIM) of the French National Police. The arrest was made based on a complaint filed by OFIM, which considers Durov complicit in drug trafficking, distribution of child abuse materials (CSAM) and fraud due to the lack of content moderation on Telegram and refusal to cooperate with law enforcement agencies, Bloomberg also reports.
«There have been countless crimes and offenses committed on his platform that he is not taking any action to mitigate or cooperate [with law enforcement],” French television network TF1 quoted a law enforcement source as saying. “It has been the number one platform for organized crime for many years,” said another source who spoke to TF1.
Elon Musk came out in support of Durov, calling for his immediate release. In his post on platform X (Twitter), Musk emphasized the importance of freedom of speech and the need to protect the rights of the Telegram founder.
At the moment, Telegram representatives have not commented on Durov’s arrest and OFIM’s charges. The entrepreneur is expected to appear in a French court soon, and the outcome of the case could have serious consequences for the future of Telegram and the Toncoin cryptocurrency, which is in the top 10 cryptocurrencies.