Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France late Saturday, and soon the native token, TON, reflected the market dip by 16.5%. Durov was arrested at Le Bourget airport when he arrived from Azerbaijan on his private jet.
Durov was arrested by France’s National Anti-Fraud Office, as per local media, over Telegram refused to moderate the various charges linked to its alleged illegal conduct. According to the publication, this includes charges linked to facilitating terrorism, the sale of narcotics and stolen goods, fraud, and more.
The detention of Durov had been extended beyond Sunday night and detention for questioning can go up to 96 hours.
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TON was trading at $5.9478 on 25th August but the news of the arrest has toppled the upward trend of its native token, TON’s performance, which even went to $5.3358. TON is now trading at $5.783. Overall, the token has seen a drop of around 1.58% in the past day, 16.5% in the past 7 days even as it had seen a growth of a whopping 302% in the past 1 year. The community sentiment around TON is 46% in the positives and 54% in the negatives.
The news has triggered a lot of responses from Free Speech absolutists, and others. Elon Musk, too, showed his support for Pavel in a recent tweet.
#FreePavel
pic.twitter.com/B7AcJWswMs— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2024
On the other hand, Telegram said in a statement, “Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act – its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving.”
The app added, “Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe. It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation.”
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Also Read: Donald Trump Jr. Debuts Telegram for Upcoming Crypto Venture
