Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has been granted permission to temporarily leave France and has departed the country for Dubai, French outlet France24 reported on Sunday.
Durov was originally arrested last August by France's National Anti-Fraud Office, which detained him in an airport and later indicted him on charges related to his "complicity in the spread of sexual images of children and other crimes such as drug trafficking on the messaging app," placing him under judicial supervision and requiring that he remain in the country.
"TON Foundation is delighted to learn that Pavel Durov's passport has been returned to him by French authorities, granting him the freedom to leave the country at his discretion," the TON Foundation wrote on X. TON, which stands for The Open Network, is a blockchain platform created with the aim of integrating cryptocurrency and blockchain functionality into the Telegram ecosystem.
The price of TON has risen about 20% in the past 24 hours, according to The Block's Toincoin Price Page, as the token's price reacts to news of Durov's release from France. According to France24, Durov was authorized to leave the country for "several weeks," though he remains charged with several counts of failing to curb extremist and terrorist content on the messaging app.
The blockchain network is known for its array of popular games, which helped boost the number of accounts on the network from 4 million to 128 million over the course of 2024. The network is now eyeing further growth in the U.S. with the help of its new president.
"Glad Pavel could return home today," Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino wrote on X.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
