Toncoin lost $ 2.7 billion in capitalization after Pavel Durov’s arrest

Bloomberg reports that Toncoin, a cryptocurrency associated with The Open Network (TON), has suffered a significant drop — the token has lost more than 20% after reports of Pavel Durov’s detention at the Paris airport. Durov is suspected of failing to take measures to prevent the criminal use of Telegram. Despite some recovery, the token’s value still remained 16% lower than before the incident.

Toncoin TON $1.89 Tokamak Network -1.25% Market capitalization $94.69 million VOL. 24 hours $39.01 million , a blockchain project that cooperates with Telegram and has access to 900 million users of the messenger. This partnership has sparked speculation about the possibility of Telegram becoming a «super app» like China’s WeChat.

Despite the fact that The Open Network declares its independence from Telegram, the connection between them has made TON one of the most anticipated projects in the cryptocurrency world. Media outlets note that Durov’s interference could negatively affect Telegram’s position, which in turn would weaken TON’s position.

The drop in Toncoin’s value is also due to a decrease in assets blocked on the TON blockchain from a peak of $ 1.1 billion last month to $ 667 million. Nevertheless, the price of the token has more than tripled over the past year, and the market value is now about $ 14.4 billion.