Thomas Daniels
After months of detention connected to an ongoing criminal investigation, Telegram creator Pavel Durov, a multibillionaire, has been given temporary permission to depart France for Dubai. Agence France-Presse (AFP) broke the story first, and the cryptocurrency market responded right away.
The digital asset linked to Telegram Open Network (TON), Toncoin (TON), saw a 15% increase in trade volume after the announcement. At $3.34, the currency is still a vital component of Telegram’s blockchain growth. Furthermore, at the time of publication, the price of Notcoin (NOT), a tap-to-earn cryptocurrency connected to a Telegram mini-app, had increased by 12.7%.
Due to allegations of links to organized crime, terrorism, drug trafficking, fraud, money laundering, and the dissemination of child abuse content on the network, Durov, who founded Telegram in 2013, has been the subject of an ongoing investigation. He was arrested in August 2024 and was prohibited from leaving France until an investigating court recently changed the terms of his supervision.
In a September statement posted on his official Telegram channel, Durov said he was shocked by the accusations and accused French authorities of unfairly holding a CEO responsible for user-generated content by evading formal channels of communication. He underlined Telegram’s dedication to content moderation, pointing out that it removes harmful content every day and continues to work with NGOs to address pressing issues.
Telegram’s cryptocurrency ecosystem is still expanding, and its almost one billion users are still active despite the legal issues. It’s unclear if Telegram’s operations or the value of the tokens it uses will be impacted in the long run by these legal developments.
