Pavel Durov may finally breathe freely outside of France after months of being closely monitored by local police. Once his passport was returned, the founder and CEO of Telegram may now travel overseas, even to Dubai. The ruling coincides with continuous inquiry on the claimed illicit Telegram use for.
French Court’s Unexpected Decision on Pavel Durov
Many were surprised by the ruling of the French court, as Durov had already been under judicial observation without any official accusations. Authorities believe Telegram has been used to enable a range of illegal activities, including money laundering and drug trafficking. Durov had to stay in France and even pay a bail of five million euros throughout the inquiry.
TON Surges as Durov Gains Travel Freedom
Not too long after this news leaked, the crypto market responded. A crypto connected with the Telegram ecosystem, Toncoin (TON), had a 20% price rise to about $3.60. Previously, unpredictable macroeconomic conditions and the declining enthusiasm following the US election had caused pressure on TON’s price. Durov’s coming back on the global scene seems to inspire the TON user community.
Telegram Faces Bans, Yet Expands Its Ecosystem
Telegram is having another difficulty in Russia as well. For security concerns, the Dagestan and Chechnya governments chose to restrict this chat app. This action was taken in response to rising activity of Islamic militants in the area. During the anti-Israel riot event at the Makhachkala airport in 2023 Telegram was utilized as a communication medium. Consequently, the local administration is becoming more cautious about possible abuse of this platform.
On the other hand, the Telegram ecosystem is expanding really rapidly. According to CNF, Telegram mini apps now use TON exclusively as their blockchain. All micro apps on Telegram are now obliged to use TON Connect as a wallet connection mechanism within one month under new policy. This is a significant step towards the blockchain ecosystem being included into a platform with hundreds of millions of active users.
Telegram Expands Its Crypto Wallet Features
Apart from developing its blockchain, Telegram keeps enhancing its crypto wallet capabilities. The wallet is much more complete as a digital investing instrument as the platform lately included trading and yield features. According to Telegram Open Network (TON) Foundation CEO Andrew Rogozov, the wallet today serves as a more general crypto platform without compromising its simplicity of use.
Telegram intends to add about 50 new tokens to its wallet in not too distant future. Some of them include major assets such as Ether (ETH) and XRP. Furthermore, the recently launched “Earn” function will let users profit on USDT among other assets. This move represents a significant change for Telegram, which is progressively concerned about turning its platform into a blockchain-based financial services hub.