Tooncoin Cryptocurrency Plunges 20% After Telegram Founder Arrested | Economy

Telegram’s cryptocurrency TONcoin fell more than 20% in mid-day trading on Sunday, after French authorities announced the arrest of the platform’s founder and Russian CEO, Pavel Durov, on Saturday evening.

The cryptocurrency recovered some of its losses at the time of writing, with losses limited to 15.8% to $5.67, according to CoinMarketCap.

Although the currency is up more than 280% compared to the same period last year, it could face potential risks in the coming days if Durov remains in custody.

Yesterday, Saturday, the French authorities arrested Durov (the founder of the Telegram application) at Le Bourget Airport near the capital, Paris.

French channel TF1 quoted security sources as saying that Durov arrived at Le Bourget Airport from Azerbaijan on a private plane.

Arrest warrant

French media reported that there was an arrest warrant issued against him by the authorities in the country previously.

Pavel Durov’s total fortune is estimated at $15.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced – in a statement today, Sunday – that its embassy in Paris has begun taking the necessary measures to “clarify the matter” regarding Durov’s arrest.

The number of Telegram users exceeds 900 million, according to data from Statista.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin fell 0.13% in the last 24 hours to $63,915, while Ethereum fell 0.23% to $2,753.

The combined market cap of cryptocurrencies fell 0.58% to $2.25 trillion, at the time of writing.