French authorities have detained Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app. They plan to hit him with charges related to abetting terrorism, fraud, money laundering, and crimes against children. There is a near-total lack of moderation on the platform, making it a top tool for organized crime. Durov's arrest has led to widespread panic in Russia - Telegram is used by Russian forces to communicate, and Western intelligence services may be able to obtain sensitive information about the Russian military if they gain access to it.
Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested at an airport in France by the country's National Anti-Fraud Office. He was allegedly put into custody for offenses related to terrorism, drugs, fraud, money laundering, and other charges related to individuals' activity on the messaging app.
Toncoin and Ethereum have led a downturn in the crypto market, with Toncoin seeing a 20% decline following the arrest of CEO Pavel Durov. The crypto market overall saw over $144M in long liquidations within 24 hours, heavily impacting these two cryptocurrencies amid broader market corrections.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been indicted by a French court on charges related to facilitating illegal activities on the messaging app, including the spread of child pornography and drug trafficking. He must remain in France under judicial supervision and is required to pay a 5 million euro deposit.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov says that innovators should not be personally liable for the potential abuse of the tools they create. He says that growing pains on Telegram made it easy for criminals to abuse the platform, but that he aims to significantly improve the platform. French authorities arrested Durov in part due to Telegram's apparent lack of response to requests related to criminal investigations, but Durov says Telegram has official representatives in the EU and that he had personally helped French authorities establish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France. Telegram is expected to announce changes to address the abuse of its platform very soon.
The TON network saw a sharp rise in activity following Telegram founder Pavel Durov's arrest, with daily transactions spiking by over 160% and active addresses hitting record highs. Despite this surge in usage, the TON token's price has plummeted by 30%, likely influenced by both the arrest and broader market conditions.