The cryptocurrency Toncoin TON/USD experienced a significant drop following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France on Saturday.
What Happened: The value of Toncoin, which was developed by Nikolai and Pavel Durov, plummeted by more than 19% after reports emerged that Durov, the CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, was arrested at Le Bourget Airport in France.
At the time of writing, Toncoin is trading at slightly over $5.39, marking a 19.77% decrease, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Durov, a Russian-French billionaire, was apprehended on Saturday evening while traveling on his private jet. The arrest is linked to an ongoing police investigation in France, which is reportedly focused on the lack of moderators on Telegram, allowing criminal activity to persist on the platform, reported Reuters.
Pavel Durov, who launched Telegram with his brother in 2013, exited Russia in 2014 after defying government orders to close down opposition groups on his VKontakte social network. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram emerged as a key platform for unfiltered information from both sides about the war and its political implications.
The Russian foreign ministry stated that it is seeking clarification on Durov’s situation and has called for his release.
The Telegram CEO is expected to appear in court on Sunday.
Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk made several posts on X calling for Durov’s release. He also posted a clip of Durov’s recent interview with Tucker Carlson where he praised the X owner for bringing back free speech to the platform.
Meanwhile, other cryptocurrencies were also trading in the red. Bitcoin BTC/USD was down 0.59% in the last 24 hours, while Ethereum ETH/USD was down 0.64% and Dogecoin DOGE/USD lost 3.65%.
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