France Ends Travel Ban on Telegram’s Pavel Durov: Will This Lift TON Price?
The French authority has taken a more lenient stance in its dealings with Telegram CEO Pavel Durov by lifting the travel ban on him. With this significant cryptocurrency news, Durov and the Telegram community can finally breathe a sigh of relief after a prolonged period of uncertainty.
This development has sparked a fresh ray of hope in the crypto community, especially among TON holders. Toncoin has been facing a negative trend over the past year, especially since Durov’s arrest and the subsequent consequences.
With the travel ban lifted, the cloud of uncertainty has begun to fade, which could lead to increased investor confidence and a price surge. It is now obvious that the latest development could be a huge catalyst for TON’s bullish reversal.
Pavel Durov is Now Free to Travel; Here’s How
According to the latest Bloomberg report, the French authorities have removed the travel restrictions on Telegram’s Pavel Durov. This lifts all travel limitations linked to the ongoing investigation into the messaging platform.
Notably, Telegram’s Russian-born founder was detained in Paris in August 2024 and is currently under investigation by French authorities. The investigation centres around allegations that Telegram facilitated criminal activities, including illicit transactions, child sex abuse, and other illicit content.
Pavel Durov has denied the claims and maintains that the platform complies with industry standards and EU laws. Durov was initially banned from leaving France, but had his judicial control relaxed in July, allowing him to travel to the UAE for short periods.
Now, the authority has removed the restrictions, and the Telegram CEO no longer needs to report to the police in Nice. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that Durov had “fully complied with his judicial supervision over the past year.”
Why was Pavel Durov Arrested in August 2024?
Last year, in August, Pavel Durov was arrested, charged with six offences, including complicity in distributing child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking. French authorities alleged that Telegram’s platform enabled illegal activities and that Durov failed to adequately cooperate with law enforcement.
During the initial investigation procedures in December 2024, Pavel Durov acknowledged that Telegram had a growing problem with criminal activity on its platform and vowed to enhance its content moderation efforts.
However, he also accused France of not following the proper legal procedures when submitting requests related to content moderation, claiming that they ignored French and EU laws and didn’t use the correct channels for their inquiries. He addressed his arrest as a “massive damage to France’s image as a free country.”
Earlier this year, Pavel Durov wrote in an X post, “I’d rather die — no third party has access to private messages on Telegram.” He added,
“One year ago, the French police detained me for 4 days because some people I’d never heard of used Telegram to coordinate crimes. Arresting a CEO of a major platform over the actions of its users was not only unprecedented — it was legally and logically absurd.”
Recently, he explained his arrest and the subsequent developments in a podcast.2 “At first, I thought there must be some mistake. Then I realised they’re being serious and they’re accusing me of all possible crimes that the users of Telegram have allegedly committed, and they think I should be responsible.”
Will Toncoin Price Skyrocket?
Interestingly, the latest development is expected to have a significant impact on the Toncoin price. Following the news, the token has shown a marginal uptrend, but is still trading in green.
Earlier today, the crypto was trading at a range of $1.9. Soon, driven by the loosened policy in the Telegram case, the TON token surged to $2.07. But this price point still shows a 0.42% decline in the last 24 hours and an 8% dip in a month. Despite this downtrend, the 7.36% weekly surge has sparked significant attention, fueling speculations of a bull run.
