TON, the native coin of The Open Network, originally developed for the Telegram messaging app, has seen a surge in futures traders hedging their bets on the asset’s price following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov.
On August 24, Durov was arrested as his plane landed at Bourget Airport outside Paris. He is charged with terrorism, human trafficking, conspiracy, fraud and money laundering.
According to CoinGlass data, Toncoin Open Interest (OI) surged 32% to $303.09 million in the hours after the news broke. The TON price crashed following the news, and a horde of traders appeared.
According to CoinMarketCap, at the time of publication, TON is trading at $5.71, down 14.71% since August 24.
Future traders appear to be slightly more biased towards short positions. Source: CoinGlass
OI is the total number of unsettled derivative contracts, such as options or futures.
An increase in OI means that traders are becoming more confident in the direction of the TON price movement, whether it will be up or down.
Anonymous cryptocurrency trader Daan Crypto Trades predicted in an August 24 post that most traders are expecting further declines.
“Most of these are short/hedge positions, no doubt,” he added.
When fear and uncertainty enter the market, it is common for traders to take these positions, especially when they are related to the founders, executives, or the entire company of a cryptocurrency token.
Traders predict that Durov will be released soon.
He also claimed that based on the grounds for Durov’s arrest, he personally thought “he would be released very quickly”.
But he warned his 380,300 followers not to take the same short position, repeatedly emphasizing that “always be careful catching a falling knife.”
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“If he gets released, the announcement will provide good pressure. But until then, we may see some volatile and choppy price action in the coming days,” Daan Crypto Trades added.
Echoing similar sentiments, cryptocurrency trader Anup Dhungana argued that “from a fundamental standpoint, if Durov is released after facing interrogation and potential international opposition, we could see a faster-than-expected price rebound.”
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