Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's Arrest Breaks the Internet, TON Plummets 18%

The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on Saturday has triggered a TON sell-off of around 18%.

Durov was arrested in France after arriving on a private jet at Le Bourget Airport. The Russian native who holds French citizenship and lives in UAE was arrested under a warrant for offenses connected to the Telegram app.

Telegram is accused of being under-moderated and allowing for the proliferation of illegal activity including drug trafficking, child pornography, terrorism, and fraud. Durov and Telegram are also under fire for refusing to cooperate with authorities.

TON's price fell as low as 18% on Sunday to $5.33 following news of Durov's arrest. Originally standing for Telegram Open Network, TON's connection with Telegram was severed in 2020 following a court order by the SEC.

Telegram nonetheless uses the TON blockchain and the native currency's popularity is still seemingly linked to the messaging app.

In a statement on X, Telegram issued a statement saying Durov has "nothing to hide."

“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the abuse of that platform. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation,” Telegram added in a statement.

Durov's arrest has triggered an outcry on social media. Russian computer scientist and podcast host Lex Fridman described the arrest as a "disturbing attack on free speech."

"Governments should not engage in censorship. This is a blatant and deeply troubling overreach of power," he said.

Edward Snowden chimed in and said, the arrest of Durov "is an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association. I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications. It lowers not only France, but the world."

Elon Musk also tweeted #FreePavel, sharing an interview clip of the Telegram CEO with Tucker Carlson.

Meanwhile, Tron founder Justin Sun proposed a #FreePavel DAO to support Durov, to which he would donate $1 million.

Earlier this month, Telegram introduced a comprehensive Mini-App store and an in-app browser to further engage users, encouraging them to spend more time on the app.

Telegram's in-app browser integrates sites with URLs ending in".ton" which are hosted on the TON blockchain rather than traditional servers.

This brings the concept of a decentralized web to Telegram’s 950 million users globally and allows them to benefit from the blockchain’s security and decentralization. This is something more users should pay attention to, especially after the outage caused by Crowdstrike.