GRAM Drops 12% Weekly as Australia Sues Telegram Amid Durov Terror Charges

GRAM, the token tied to the Telegram ecosystem, has shed 12% over the past week as legal pressure on the messaging platform and its founder Pavel Durov mounts on two continents. Russia’s FSB charged Durov with facilitating terrorist activity and issued an arrest warrant on July 29, and Australia’s online safety regulator has now filed its own civil case against Telegram in federal court.

What the numbers show

The 12% weekly decline in GRAM marks one of the token’s sharpest slides in recent months and coincides directly with the intensifying “founder risk” narrative around Durov. Traders appear to be pricing in the possibility that prolonged legal exposure for Telegram’s leadership could weigh on the platform’s operations, its token economics, or both.

Unlike a single sharp-drop event tied to one headline, the weekly figure reflects sustained selling pressure as Durov’s legal situation has escalated in stages: first Russian charges, then an international arrest warrant, and now a separate regulatory action out of Australia.

Russia’s terrorism charge and arrest warrant

Russia’s Federal Security Service formally charged Durov with facilitating terrorist activity on July 29, alleging Telegram’s infrastructure was used to aid such activity. Moscow followed with an international arrest warrant, escalating a legal confrontation between Russian authorities and the Telegram founder that has been building for over a year.

Durov, who holds French and UAE citizenship among others, has previously faced legal scrutiny in France over content-moderation failures on Telegram, and Russian authorities have long accused the platform of resisting cooperation on extremism-related takedown requests.

Australia’s eSafety Commission joins the pressure

A day after Russia’s charges became public, Australia’s eSafety Commission commenced civil penalty proceedings against Telegram in federal court, alleging the company failed to remove pro-terror content from its platform. The Australian action is legally separate from the Russian case but lands at the same moment, reinforcing the perception among traders that regulatory scrutiny of Telegram is broadening rather than narrowing.

Neither Telegram nor Durov has issued a substantive public response to either the Russian charges or the Australian court filing, according to the available reporting.

Why it matters for GRAM holders

GRAM’s price is now directly tethered to headline risk around Durov personally, a dynamic that distinguishes it from tokens whose value is driven mainly by protocol usage or network fundamentals. With simultaneous legal fronts open in Russia and Australia, holders face a compounding overhang: any further charges, sanctions, or platform restrictions could extend the token’s slide, while a de-escalation on either front could ease selling pressure just as quickly.

Read more: Russia’s FSB Issues Arrest Warrant for Telegram’s Durov Over Terrorism Charge

Sources

• coingape.com
• cryptonews.com