Musk, Vitalik and global giants speak out! A "rare" explosion occurred in the European market, and Russia pointed the finger at the United States

FX168 Financial News Agency (Asia Pacific) reported that Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested by the National Anti-Fraud Office at a French airport. He was put on the wanted list a few minutes before getting off the plane, which led to panic selling in the currency circle. The TON token he founded still failed to regain buying on Monday (August 26). Billionaire Elon Musk, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin (V God) and other global giants voiced their support, while Russia pointed the finger at the United States.

Over the weekend, the European and American markets ushered in a bombshell. Telegram, a global communication software with 900 million users, had an accident. Durov was arrested in France and detained by agents of the French National Anti-Fraud Office. He was arrested after traveling from Azerbaijan to Paris Le Bourget Airport, which specializes in serving private jets, with a woman and her bodyguard.

In response to this incident, Telegram issued a statement on its official Twitter account (now renamed X): "Telegram complies with EU laws, including the Digital Services Act, and its audits meet industry standards and are constantly improving. Telegram CEO Durov is not hiding and often travels in Europe."

Read more:Telegram Founder Arrest in France Sparks Conspiracy Theories, Toncoin Plummets 20%, DOGS Faces Pre-Listing Crisis

The statement continued: "It is absurd to claim that 'a platform or platform owner is responsible for abuse on the platform'. Nearly one billion users around the world use Telegram as a means of communication and an important source of information. The team is waiting for a quick resolution to this situation."

Musk posted a video with the hashtag #FreePavel on Twitter to support Durov again. In the video, Durov said in an interview that Musk's acquisition of Twitter has made speech more free, which is a great progress, and humans need more social media like Twitter and Telegram that protect freedom of speech.

#FreePavel
pic.twitter.com/B7AcJWswMs
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2024
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“Dangerous times,” he wrote in response to another tweet that mentioned similar incidents, including in the UK.

Read more:Justin Sun Offers $1 Million to Support Telegram Founder Pavel Durov

Vitalik said: “I have criticized Telegram before for not taking encryption seriously enough, but based on the information currently available, the charges seem to be just ‘unregulated’ and did not leak people’s data) arresting the founder looks very bad and is worrying about the future of software and communication freedom in Europe.”

In response to the arrest of Telegram’s founder, Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu said: “We are committed to supporting our friends in the TON community in their fight for freedom. Decentralization is the solution to resist censorship and preserve freedom and rights.”

Robert Kennedy Jr., who just gave up the US presidential campaign in November, said: "The need to protect free speech has never been more urgent."

Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski also spoke about Durov's arrest. He wrote: "France has already threatened Rumble, and now they have crossed the red line and arrested Durov, allegedly because he did not censor speech."

According to Fox News, the Durov incident has a greater impact, and the government will next hold Musk and Twitter accountable.

Read more:Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski, who has previously been involved in a legal battle with France, quickly left Europe after the arrest of Telegram founder

Well-known opinion leader Joey Mannarino wrote: "They attacked Telegram to have an excuse to attack Twitter and Musk next."

Ekaterina Mizulina, head of the Russian Alliance for a Secure Internet, believes that Durov's arrest in France was a request from the United States. She wrote on her personal Telegram channel: "I have long believed that the head of Telegram is in danger outside Russia and may be arrested at any time. Similar situations have occurred before at the request of the United States. I originally thought that no one touched him because he might have cooperated with Western intelligence agencies, but recent news shows that everything seems to be different."

In addition, Mizulina believes that the arrest of Durov is to crack down on the super currency Toncoin (TON) circulating on Telegram. She said that in this way, the United States will continue its sanctions policy.

In the early Asian market on Monday, TON continued its weak trend over the weekend and took a breath at $5.77.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Vladislav Davankov, deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma, called on the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media to immediately block the websites of major French companies operating in Russia.

Davankov, deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma, called on the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to try to rescue Durov, and said that he had sent a corresponding request to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Russian Embassy in France has taken necessary measures to understand Durov's situation.

Durov was born in 1984. The media said that he has multiple nationalities including Russia, France, and the United Arab Emirates. It is reported that because Durov is a French citizen, he will not be exchanged or extradited to other countries.