Toncoin, Notcoin Slip 21% After Telegram Founder Pavel Durov's Arrest

Telegram-linked crypto tokens Toncoin (TON) and Notcoin (NOT) are both down more than 20% over the week after co-founder and CEO of the mobile app, Pavel Durov, was arrested in Paris.

The Open Network, which uses Toncoin (TON) as its native currency, was originally theorized by Telegram in 2018 with the release of its whitepaper for the “Telegram Open Network.” But the mobile app company abandoned the project after the SEC claimed the project would have been considered an unregistered security.

This was when the community stepped in, using TON’s code accessible on GitHub, to push the project over the finish line—renaming the project to The Open Network.

Late on Saturday, according to local media, Durov was arrested on various allegations that Telegram had not prevented illegal conduct by Telegram users. This has caused Toncoin’s price to plummet 21% and the network’s largest token Notcoin (NOT) to similarly fall 20%.

Telegram has been the home of a crypto mobile gaming craze led by the tap-to-earn game Notcoin. Players are encouraged to click a gold coin over and over again as they accrue in-game points which eventually led to the largest crypto gaming airdrop of 2024—hitting a $2.97 billion market cap.

The success of the project, along with important updates from Telegram, has led to a slew of similar projects creating Telegram-based games with the promise of future airdrops. Following the recent arrest of Durov, some Telegram games such as Notcoin and Hamster Kombat have shown solidarity with the founder by way of in-game features, stickers, and social media posts.

Toncoin’s logo has been changed to the network’s Resistance Dog—a token used to symbolize “digital resistance.” The TON Society encouraged other projects and community members to join them in changing their Twitter avatar’s to the Resistance Dog. The team shared a post with the hashtag #FreeDurov, referring to the detained Telegram CEO, with the free emoji. This post has garnered over 210,000 retweets so far.

In turn, the Resistance Dog (REDO) token is up 94% over the week, hitting a $67 million market cap and becoming the fifth largest token on the network excluding stablecoins.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.