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Tim Alper
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Tim Alper
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Russian industry chiefs say that falling Toncoin (TON) prices could affect the entire crypto market, leading to a “short-term” dip.
Per the Russian media outlet Izvestia, BitRiver CEO Igor Runets believes that the risk of a dip is “increasing.”
He said that “a significant drop in TON prices” could “have a temporary negative impact on the entire cryptocurrency market.”
Falling TON Prices: Some Traders Will ‘Bet on Drops’
Runets claimed that the arrest of Pavel Durov, the Telegram co-founder, in France last Saturday, “raises important questions about internet freedom, data privacy, and the successful development of the crypto market.”
Ubit CEO Timofey Grigorenko remarked that “as a rule,” some crypto traders tend to “bet on price drops.”
Grigorenko claimed that many opportunistic traders “try in every possible way to manipulate the [value] of their profits” on “the back of major news developments and market sentiment.”
He claimed that a similar phenomenon occurred after Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder of the crypto exchange giant Binance, was sentenced to jail for four months in the United States.
Uncertainty on the Rise, Says Analyst
Sergey Ramaninov, an analyst for the Telegram channel RynkiDengiVlast (RDV) said that the “uncertainty surrounding Durov’s arrest” has created some risks for the crypto market.
Ramaninov said that “serious charges” could force Durov to “choose between making Telegram transparent to the authorities or ending up in prison for many years.”
Both scenarios, the analyst said, would be equally “negative for both TON and Telegram.”
In the first case, Ramaninov Telegram would “lose its key advantage, and therefore a significant share of its users.”
But in the second case, he said, the chat app and the TON project would “be left without a public face and will thus experience major financing problems.”
Ramaninov added that Durov’s past statements had drawn a “huge amount of attention to the coin,” as well as to the Notcoin (NOT) and Hamster Kombat projects.
Grigorenko concurred, saying that Durov’s arrest “may also affect the Hamster Kombat project.”
The exchange chief said that Hamster Kombat has “repeatedly postponed the listing of its token,” and added that the arrest “may lead to another deadline shift.”
Fedor Ivanov, director of analytics at the digital asset security provider Shard, said that “if the problems with Durov are not resolved,” the market could see “a massive sell-off” of Hamster Kombat tokens “in the first minutes after listings.”
Other Tokens to Benefit?
However, some analysts claimed that TON-related troubles could indirectly benefit other coins.
The Neomarkets chief analyst Oleg Kalmanovich said that that “investors are leaving Toncoin for alternative cryptocurrencies.”
There may also be an “outflow of capital from Telegram projects,” another BitRiver official claimed, with “international investors” “already analyzing” developments in France.
Ivanov, meanwhile, noted that “faith in the TON ecosystem is largely based on Durov’s personality.”
Izvestia also reported on August 26 that according to the BitRiver financial analyst Vladislav Antonov, TON prices could fall to the $4.60 mark following Durov’s arrest.
Durov Fate Still Uncertain
TON nosedived on Saturday after news of Durov’s arrest broke, but later stabilized. At the time of writing, TON was trading at around $5.40 on most exchanges.
As Durov’s fate remains uncertain, Antonov said. that the Telegram founder could remain in custody for “months.”
Therefore, Antonov claimed, “TON will remain under pressure for a long time.”
“Falling TON prices may drop to the key mark of $4.60. The next targets for sellers will be $4 and $3.50 per coin.”
BitRiver financial analyst Vladislav Antonov
The lawyer Alexander Stepanov, meanwhile, opinioned that Durov was “detained in order to obtain confidential information.”
Earlier this month, Russia’s top internet censor claimed that the United States had “orchestrated” Durov’s arrest. Many media analysts in the country have since expressed similar views.
The French prosecution service has charged Durov with 12 offenses. The tech entrepreneur faces 20 years in jail if convicted.
Russian media outlets and politicians claim that his arrest is a sign that the West has “begun a fresh round of hybrid warfare against Russia.”
