Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested, Toncoin crashes 20%

Toncoin faced strong bearish momentum after Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, was arrested at Le Bourget airport near Paris.

Toncoin (TON) is down 20.6% over the past 24 hours and is trading at $5.3 at the time of writing. The asset's market cap dropped to $13.6 billion, making it the ninth-largest cryptocurrency.

Toncoin saw a 690% increase in its daily trading volume, hitting the $2 billion mark. Despite the market-wide recovery on Saturday, August 24, it is currently facing increased selling pressure.

The coin has been integrated into Telegram, the messenger app that has almost a billion users and aims to become a Web3 innovator. One of its developments is the Toncoin or TON – an acronym for Telegram Open Network.

According to numerous French media reports, Durov is due to appear in court today. The Russian exiled billionaire is allegedly facing several criminal charges, including terrorism, drug trafficking, fraud, money laundering and child abuse.

Durov could face up to 20 years in prison for violating the country's nationwide content moderation law.

Elon Musk, owner of X.com, has already expressed his support for the Telegram founder and appears to be mocking European laws, which he believes represent censorship of free speech.

“It's the year 2030 in Europe and you're being executed for liking a meme.”

This is what Elon Musk said, referring to Durov’s arrest in France.