Tron (TRX) has leapfrogged Toncoin (TON) to become the 10th biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, following the arrest of Telegram boss Pavel Durov and a spike in interest in meme coins on Tron.
However, the race is tight: TRX's market cap currently stands at $14.31 billion; TON's is $14.23 billion.
French authorities arrested Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of encrypted messaging app Telegram, outside of Paris on Saturday. The price of The Open Network's TON plummeted as the coin is closely affiliated with Telegram, and the messaging app has been integrating TON more and more over the past year. TON is now down 17% over the last week.
TON and those behind the asset are independent from Telegram, but the service now uses TON to pay channel operators a share of revenue, and also launched an in-app currency called Stars that is tied to TON. Furthermore, there's been a boom of crypto-fueled games on Telegram this year, and many of the top games are launching their own tokens via TON.
Durov's arrest came following gripes from the French government and others that Telegram is not doing enough to moderate content on its platform, or stop the use of the app to aid in illegal activities.
The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office alleges that Telegram is complicit in allowing organized criminal groups and fraudsters to use the the app, and that there are not enough checks in place to prevent illegal content.
TRX is the native coin of Tron, a blockchain network that aims to build a decentralized internet controlled and owned by the individuals who use it.
The network has experienced a surge in activity as of late following the launch of SunPump, a platform built upon Tron that allows people to mint new meme coins. SunPump's surging activity last week helped catapult it past Solana's Pump.fun, a platform that it closely emulated, with TRX's price rising as a result. TRX is now up 18% over the past week.
Meme coins and tokens are highly volatile cryptocurrencies, often based on Internet jokes and subcultures, that are popular with crypto traders looking to make quick returns.
Edited by Andrew Hayward