Why Durov was arrested

According to Cointelegraph’s sources, a search warrant was issued for Durov as part of the preliminary investigation by the French OFMIN agency, which investigates offences against minors.

Pavel wants to be charged with the aforementioned counts – supporting terrorist financing, drug trafficking, fraud and money laundering.

The story is a bit reminiscent of Silk Road - a darknet platform that was shut down more than a decade ago. Its creator, Ross Ulbricht, was sentenced in the US to a double life sentence and 40 years in prison on top for drug distribution, although he himself essentially just created the platform. In the case of Durov, French law enforcers are trying to emphasise the lack of normal moderation in Telegram, which gives attackers the opportunity to freely use the messenger.

Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road darknet platform

Durov also allegedly refuses to cooperate with law enforcement. Given this, according to some analysts, he can be recognised as an accomplice to crimes committed with the help of Telegram.

Now Pavel is in custody: he was arrested after arriving in Le Bourget on a private plane from Azerbaijan. There he was supposedly supposed to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but the meeting was cancelled for reasons unknown to the public. The French court was initially scheduled to hear his case on 25 August.

Posted on Durov’s Telegram channel on 10 June

French journalist Cyril Amursky said that Durov could face up to 20 years in prison. The exact reason for his arrival in France is unknown – he allegedly knew that he was persona non grata in the country, so he tried not to travel to European countries where he could face the risk of detention. Durov is a citizen of Russia, France, the UAE and St Kitts and Nevis.

Community reaction to Durov’s arrest

Durov is one of the most famous personas on the internet, so his detention caught the attention of even Ilon Musk. The head of Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX hinted that the incident is a “great advert” for the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Recall, it guarantees freedom of speech, press and peaceful assembly for every citizen of the United States.

Musk also shared an episode from Durov’s recent interview with journalist Tucker Carlson. In this episode, Paul stated that the acquisition of Twitter by Ilon Musk has had a positive effect on technological innovation and freedom of speech.

Pavel Durov is the creator of the messenger Telegram

In the same interview, Durov complained that Telegram had attracted unwanted attention from the FBI and other US agencies. The Telegram CEO claimed that US officers tried to hire one of his engineers during his last visit to the country. Here’s a rejoinder on the matter.

Cybersecurity officers or agents tried to secretly hire my engineer behind my back. They were interested in knowing what open source libraries were integrated into the Telegram app. They were trying to convince him to use certain open source tools that could serve as backdoors.

Durov’s arrest was also commented on by Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Etherium. Here is his comment.

I have criticised Telegram before for not taking encryption seriously. However, given the information available so far, it seems the accusation is that Telegram is simply “unmoderated” and not giving away user data. It all looks very bad and worrying for the future of software and freedom of communication in Europe.

Another comment came from former independent candidate in the US election Robert Kennedy Jr, who withdrew from the race the day before and urged fans to support Trump. Here’s the line.

Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the uncensored Telegram platform, has just been arrested in France. The need to protect free speech is more urgent than ever.

Former U.S. presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr.

The news of Durov’s detention caused a noticeable drop in Toncoin, a token of the TON blockchain protocol ecosystem integrated into Telegram. Back on Saturday, the value of the coin reached a local peak at $6.88.

At its bottom, the rate dropped to $5.31, which means the cryptocurrency’s value has sagged by more than 20 per cent. This morning, TON is valued at $5.62.

The change in the exchange rate of the Toncoin TON cryptocurrency over the past week

Meanwhile, the TON blockchain continues to operate as normal. On the occasion of Durov’s arrest, a public address was published in the official account of the project.

With the recent news related to Telegram founder Pavel Durov, we want to assure everyone that the TON community remains strong and fully operational.

As a community committed to free speech and decentralisation, we stand firmly behind Pavel during this challenging time. Paul has been and is a dedicated defender of these values. We trust that his efforts to promote an open and decentralised internet will continue to inspire millions of people.

Last night, the official Telegram channel posted an update on the current situation. Company representatives said that the messenger complies with EU laws, including the Digital Services Act.

At the same time, “Pavel has nothing to hide”, and statements about his responsibility for abusing the capabilities of the platform are absurd.

Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov

In general, many users are concerned not only about the fact of Pavel’s detention, but also about the risk of information leakage. However, the messenger is actively used around the world in various spheres – it is quite possible that Durov’s arrest is an attempt to get access keys to the methods of information encryption and other sources of important data.


The Pavel Durov story is one of the most important of the year. Still, Telegram remains one of the most popular messengers in the world, so the arrest of the head of this project will definitely affect what is happening with the platform. However, the TON blockchain and Toncoin will continue their work.