Toncoin’s Price Dips and Open Interest Rises in Wake of Pavel Durov’s Arrest

In the wake of Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s arrest, Toncoin, a project initially developed by the social messaging app and later spun off, is grappling 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 analysis of TON following the recent turn of events highlighted three changes. First, the price of TON plummeted from $6.8 to $5.3 on August 25. The downtrend briefly extended to $5.1 in the early hours of August 27. The price action contributed to its weekly decline by over 22%. TON, which is the tenth-largest crypto by market cap, experienced a slight recovery and is currently trading near $5.43.

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

Finally, Open Interest in TON surged from approximately $200 million to $360 million, reflecting an 80% increase, indicating heightened speculative activity.

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

The TON ecosystem has also attracted venture capital interest primarily due to its connection with the Telegram messaging service. The social media app’s February revenue-sharing program and Tether’s April launch of USDT on TON further boosted the network, coupled with the popular mini-games such as Notcoin and Hamster Kombat driving further growth.

The asset has also witnessed significant accumulation by whales this year despite the market downturn.