In a dramatic turn of events, Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested on August 24th around 18:00 GMT while traveling from Azerbaijan. The French police detained Pavel Durov to investigate the social media app’s alleged lack of moderation.
Toncoin, the native coin for The Open Network (TON), experienced a rapid drop of over 17%, falling to a trading price of $5.521. This sudden decline is attributed to Telegram’s strong ties with the layer-1 blockchain network.
French law authorities argue that Pavel Durov failed to cooperate with law enforcement and exercise appropriate oversight over Telegram. They claim that Telegram’s features, such as disposable number usage and various crypto products, make the platform a haven for drug trafficking, pedo criminal offenses, and fraud.
Since Durov resides in Dubai, his arrest there is unlikely. However, his presence in France allowed local authorities to detain him. A search warrant for Pavel Durov was valid only if he was in the country. “He made a blunder this evening. We don’t know why… Was this flight just a stopover? In any case, he’s in custody!” the report added.
Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Telegram boasts a global user base of over 950 million active users. Despite its significant growth, various government authorities have questioned the app’s support for free speech, believing that bad actors exploit this feature for criminal operations.
The Open Network was initially created as a blockchain for the Telegram ecosystem. Although the project was abandoned, the L1 blockchain survived, and Telegram became a hub for numerous crypto projects.
Top projects like Notcoin, TapSwap, and DOGS owe their origin to the collaboration between Telegram and the L1 network.
This incident underscores the challenges faced by tech giants in balancing innovation with regulatory compliance and the far-reaching impacts of executive actions on associated digital assets.
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