Telegram CEO indicted in France

A French court indicted the executive on charges including organizing or enabling illicit transactions

share

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was indicted on Wednesday.

The news was first reported by Bloomberg, and said a French court indicted the executive on charges including organizing or enabling illicit transactions.

A previous press release from Aug. 26 lists the charges Durov is facing, including complicity in offering and selling narcotic substances and distributing child pornography. Durov, as the CEO of Telegram, faces the accusations. 

French authorities also allege that Durov didn’t aid investigations.

The earlier press release also says that Durov has already faced interrogations from the French investigators. 

Durov, who was arrested in France last week, was placed under judicial supervision. He had previously been in police custody. He is unable to leave France at this time. 

Read more: Unpacking crypto’s Telegram situationship

The press release also claims that the judicial investigation was opened in early July. A report from Politico on Wednesday claims that French authorities have also sought an arrest warrant for Durov’s brother, Nikolai Durov.

Durov’s arrest over the weekend led to Telegram-linked Toncoin slipping nearly 20%. The network has also faced multiple outages, including one earlier Wednesday

The outage “appears to be due to heavy load attributed to DOGS token minting. TON Core is working on a solution,” Toncoin said. 

Loading Tweet..

Block production had yet to restart at time of publication.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) represent low-hanging fruit in a massive market ripe for Web3-driven disruption. The global CDN market was valued at ~$28B in 2024, and is projected to surpass $140B by 2034, (18.75% CAGR) underscoring the immense demand for efficient content delivery.

article-image

US dollars might technically be worth less, but it’s still good news

article-image

Apps are doing well, as is casino gaming, says Tom Schmidt of Dragonfly

article-image

Sponsored

Machine DeFi brings programmable peer-to-peer finance into contact with tangible machines that generate real-world value

article-image

What happens to your investment portfolio when the companies driving returns are no longer in it?

article-image

Wow, the ETF hype sure didn’t last long

article-image

The private sector lost 33,000 jobs in June; analysts had projected payrolls to add 100,000 positions