Toncoin Price Drops and Open Interest Increases Following Pavel Durov’s Arrest

In the wake of the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, Toncoin, a project initially developed by the social messaging app and later spun off, is struggling with uncertainty.

While the team expressed confidence in the stability and continued operation of the TON network, the long-term consequences of Durov’s arrest for both Telegram and TON remain uncertain.

CryptoQuant’s latest TON analysis following the recent turn of events highlighted three changes. First, the price of TON plummeted from $6.8 to $5.3 on August 25th. The downtrend briefly extended to $5.1 in the early hours of August 27. The price action contributed to its weekly decline of more than 22%. TON, which is the 10th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, saw a slight recovery and is currently trading near $5.43.

Second, despite the turmoil, the network, both the master and worker chains, continued to produce blocks as usual.

Finally, open interest in TON increased from approximately $200 million to $360 million, reflecting an 80% increase, indicating increased speculative activity.

It’s important to note that TON had an incredible run this year until Durov’s arrest. The number of active addresses on the blockchain rose to an all-time high last week amid increased network activity and the Binance listing.

The TON ecosystem has also attracted the interest of venture capital mainly because of its connection with the Telegram messaging service. The social media app’s revenue sharing program in February and USDT’s April launch of Tether to TON further boosted the network, along with popular mini-games like Notcoin and Hamster Kombat that boosted greater growth.

The asset has also witnessed significant whale accumulation this year despite the market slump.

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