Toncoin (TON) Price Surges Over 6% Following Telegram Founder Pavel Durov's Release

The price of Toncoin (TON) saw a significant increase of more than 6% immediately after the release of Telegram founder Pavel Durov from France, where he had been staying since his arrest in August 2024. CoinMarketCap reported that TON's price surged by around 18% in the past 24 hours and over 13% in the last week. Following Durov's arrest in France on August 24, 2024, the price of TON dropped by over 35%, from approximately $6.88 to $4.44 by September 2024. Despite reaching a high of $7.20 on December 4, 2024, due to a crypto market rally after President Donald Trump's re-election, TON's price later plummeted by about 67% to a low of $2.36 on March 11, 2025. Toncoin is the cryptocurrency of The Open Network, a separate entity from Telegram but widely used by the messaging app's users. Durov's approval to leave France was seen as a victory for freedom of speech by Telegram and TON users, amid ongoing debates about online security and freedom of expression. Pavel Durov was granted permission to depart from France on March 13 to travel to Dubai, as confirmed by unnamed sources to the AFP news agency. It remains unclear whether the legal case against Durov has been resolved in French courts or if his departure is temporary while the legal process continues. French law enforcement has accused Telegram of enabling illegal activities by not censoring the platform, leading to charges against Durov and his confinement in France under a bail agreement. Durov expressed that the arrest was unnecessary and stated that the company has a representative in the EU to handle legal matters, willing to cooperate if proper legal requests were made.