The TON price has reclaimed the $3 mark with an over 20% spurt on Saturday, March 15. This price spike was triggered by the news of a French court approving the departure of Telegram founder Pavel Durov from France.

Telegram Founder Reportedly Cleared To Leave France

According to a report on Saturday, Durov was granted permission by a French court to depart the country, where he faces several charges of enabling organized crime. One of AFP’s sources said that the Telegram founder had been authorized to leave France for “several weeks.”

Durov’s legal troubles began on August 24, 2024, after he was detained at the Le Bourget airport in Paris. A few days later, France’s Prosecutor’s Office brought several charges against the Telegram founder centered around running a messaging platform that allegedly enabled illegal activities.

On August 28, Durov was released on a $6 million bail, albeit with restrictions on his movement and travels. The French prosecutors demanded that the Telegram founder remain in the country until the conclusion of their investigation.

While the current condition of Durov’s case remains unclear, a source close to the case stated the Telegram founder was allowed to leave France temporarily after the investigating judge approved his request to modify the conditions of his supervision. “A third source said Durov had departed for Dubai,” AFP reported.

Durov’s arrest led to an uproar within the crypto community at the time, as experts assessed the implications of such a move on the future of technology and encryption. Moreover, it marked another incident in the worrying trend of holding founders and developers accountable for the use of their platforms.

It is worth mentioning that, as of press time, there has been no official word from Telegram and Durov confirming the report.

TON Price Up 20%

Following the report of Durov’s departure from France, TON (native cryptocurrency of The Open Network) reacted with a more than 20% price spike. As with the general crypto market, the altcoin has struggled to build any momentum in the past few months.

After reaching the local high of $6 in early December, the TON price has since been on a steady decline. On Tuesday, March 11, the cryptocurrency dropped beneath the $2.5 mark for the first time in over a year.

As of this writing, the TON price stands at around $3.4, reflecting an almost 18% surge in the past 24 hours. According to CoinGecko, the token’s performance has improved to a positive 17% gain in the past seven days.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView



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