Russia puts Pavel Durov on wanted list – GRAM falls below $1.40

Russian authorities have placed Telegram founder Pavel Durov on an international wanted list over allegations of facilitating terrorist activity. Given Telegram’s close connection with The Open Network, has any of the chaos affected native token GRAM?

Russia escalates case against Telegram founder Pavel Durov

Russia’s Federal Security Service [FSB] accused Telegram founder Pavel Durov of facilitating terrorist activity. Officials have placed him on an international wanted list.

According to a statement from Russia’s Federal Security Service, Durov has been formally charged, and an international warrant has been issued for his arrest. However, it has not been specified which Wanted List the FSB was referring to.

Durov’s name was also not visible in Interpol’s public Red Notice database at the time of writing.

The FSB claims that Telegram failed to remove channels, group chats, and automated bots allegedly used by Ukrainian intelligence services, terrorist groups, and extremist organizations. Russian authorities say these tools were used to plan attacks, recruit people, and carry out cyber fraud.

This follows a criminal case opened against Durov in February. At the time, he described the investigation as another attempt by Russian authorities to pressure Telegram and restrict access to private communication and free speech.

Durov is also under investigation in France over allegations that Telegram enabled illegal activity.

GRAM falls nearly 4%

The news coincided with short-term selling pressure in GRAM. The token fell from around $1.45 to $1.40; that’s roughly 3.5%

GRAM was trading at $1.3984 at the time of writing. Its RSI was at 32.18, putting it close to oversold territory and proving weak buying pace. The MACD was also negative, so sellers still had the upper hand.

However, the news emerged only a few hours ago. While there is a decline, it is too early to confirm whether this will develop into a longer-term fall.

Final Summary

• Russia placed Telegram founder Pavel Durov on an international wanted list over allegations of facilitating terrorist activity.
• GRAM fell around 3.5%, but it is too early to assess long-term impact.