Crypto Community Seeks to “Restore Justice” for Telegram CEO

Following the shocking event over the weekend, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in France.

The authorities accused Durov of facilitating criminal activities such as terrorism, fraud, drug trafficking, money laundering, asset theft, and the distribution of obscene images through the Telegram messaging app.

Unsurprisingly, the crypto community has strongly opposed this action, with many prominent figures calling for the release of Telegram’s founder. This incident recalls the U.S. sanctioning of the Tornado Cash website, which led to the arrest of one co-founder and the imprisonment of another developer in the Netherlands for 64 months on money laundering charges.

In response to the situation, the crypto community has united to seek justice for Pavel Durov.

Justin Sun calls for the establishment of a relief DAO, pledges $1 million

Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, has called on the community to establish a DAO to help Durov with his legal battle, while also demonstrating the crypto industry’s solidarity in defending righteous causes. Sun has also pledged to contribute $1 million if the #FreePavel DAO (Free Pavel) is established.

Elon Musk speaks out

Billionaire Elon Musk has posted several tweets on X related to Pavel Durov, supporting freedom of speech and condemning the unreasonable arrest by the French government. Musk, the owner of X, has long been a proponent of decentralization and free speech and envisions X as a platform where people can freely express themselves without fear of censorship.

The community changes logos and uses the hashtag #FreePavel to show support

Those with financial means are contributing money, while others are lending their voices. The hashtag #FreePavel has flooded social media platform X, with many posts and comments showing support for Telegram’s founder and calling for his release. Additionally, Telegram user communities have launched a campaign to change their logos to the “Resistance Dog” image and add emojis after their usernames within the app.

Memeland buys $1 million worth of TON from its treasury

Memeland, the development team behind Memecoin (MEME) on Ethereum, has spent $1 million from its treasury to buy TON, pledging to hold these funds until Telegram’s founder is released.

Related: What is Toncoin and How Does It Work?

DWF Labs buys $500,000 worth of TON

Andrei Grachev, a spokesperson for DWF Labs, also announced that the fund has purchased $500,000 worth of TON on the open market to support the project. He emphasized that this action is to support decentralized technology and resist censorship, rather than being “investment advice.”

Zhu Su buys TON at $5.8

Zhu Su, the controversial co-founder of 3AC, announced that he has purchased TON at $5.8 to support the project. Thanks to these “price support” efforts, the TON price has slightly increased from a low of $5.2 to around $5.7.