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Dogecoin’s price continues to trade below the $0.17 level caused by ongoing bearish pressure. With robust volatility persistently hindering Dogecoin’s upward movements, major investors and traders are becoming extremely cautious about the dog-themed meme coin. Recent reports have shown a decline in accumulation among these major DOGE players.

Reduced Whale Activity In Dogecoin

Continued price fluctuations have stifled the positive sentiment around Dogecoin and its near-term prospects. Ali Martinez, a technical and on-chain expert, identified a worrying shift in sentiment among Dogecoin investors in the past few days, raising concerns about a potential extension of the current correction.

Large investors, usually classified as whales, have significantly reduced their activity in terms of accumulation over the last 96 hours. Ali Martinez reported that investors holding at least 1 million DOGE have remained quiet within the period, with no significant spikes in buying or selling.

The decline in whale activity may result in reduced market liquidity and heightened uncertainty about DOGE’s short-term price trend. Since the market has remained robustly volatile in the past few weeks, a drop in whale participation may imply a strategic stance among big players.

Prior to the dormant whale activities, these major investors were observed carrying out massive sell-offs when DOGE’s price saw a sharp rebound from the $0.13 mark to $0.16 within hours. On April 9, the seasoned expert mentioned that whales offloaded more than 1.32 billion DOGE in the space of two days.

These substantial sell-offs from big investors sparked worries about the sustainability of the rally. It comes at a crucial time for the meme coin as it struggles to surpass key resistance levels and sustain an upward trajectory.

While the cohorts were selling, wallet addresses holding between 100,000 DOGE to 1 million DOGE were gradually buying the meme coin. In another post on X, Ali Martinez revealed that the whales acquired over 80 million Dogecoin within a day as DOGE attempts to recover from a prolonged downtrend.

Such accumulation during a brief price increase implies that these investors were capitalizing on the growth in anticipation of further gains. Furthermore, it reflects growing confidence and interest in the meme coin in spite of ongoing correction.

DOGE’s Price On The Brink Of A Major Upswing

Dogecoin whale activity may have dived down, but it does not essentially stop the asset’s price from growing. Delving into DOGE’s price action, crypto analyst Javon Marks has outlined a possible upward move to new all-time highs.

Javon Mark’s analysis is based on past bullish trends, which triggered notable surges to previous highs in 2017 and 2021. With the trend resurfacing, the expert believes Dogecoin is gearing up for “another magical bullish performance to new all-time highs.”

Should similar results in 2017 and 2021 unfold, the meme coin is likely to witness an upsurge of at least +200% to +300%, bringing its price to $0.73 and above.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview.com

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Founder of the messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, has flown to Dubai from France with permission from a French court, according to a report by Barron’s.

“He departed France this morning,” an unnamed source familiar with the case told AFP.

A second source told AFP that an investigating judge granted Durov’s request to leave France for “several weeks.”

Durov’s legal trouble began last year

Durov was abruptly arrested by French authorities at the Le Bourget airport in Paris on Aug. 24. Following his arrest, Durov was slapped with a litany of charges on Aug. 26, including complicity in child exploitation, drug trafficking, and other organized criminal activities.

The French authorities alleged that through its lack of content moderation, Telegram, and thereby Durov, facilitated illicit activities, including distribution of child pornography and drug trafficking. The authorities claimed that Durov could face up to 10 years in prison along with a fine of €500,000 ($550,000).

Durov’s arrest was condemned by the Telegram community in an open letter, calling it “a blatant attack on the freedom of expression and the right to private life.” Whistleblower Edward Snowden and tech billionaire Elon Musk also decried Durov’s arrest as an attack on free speech.

Modification of bail conditions received approval

On Aug. 28, Durov was released from police custody and placed under judicial supervision after he posted a €5 million ($6 million) bail. Durov’s release was contingent on a number of conditions, one of which required him to remain in France.

However, according to the Barron’s report, the investigating judge accepted Durov’s request to modify the conditions of his bail on March 13, allowing him to leave the country.

While the exact terms of the court’s decision remain unclear, Durov’s departure to Dubai—a city known for its lack of extradition agreements with several countries—has raised concerns about jurisdiction and privacy.

Durov is not only a French citizen, but also holds citizenship in Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

A few weeks after his release, Durov wrote in a Telegram post:

“Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools.”

Things are looking up for Russian programmers

The news of Durov’s departure to Dubai is yet to be officially confirmed by Telegram or Durov himself. However, if confirmed, Durov would be the second Russian programmer to be released.

Just last month, Alexander Vinnik, operator of the now-defunct crypto exchange BTC-e, was released by the U.S. and sent to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange program. The prisoner swap program was one of the efforts to mend political and diplomatic ties between the two countries.

It is worth noting, however, that Telegram was banned in Russia in 2018 after the app refused to hand over encryption keys required to read users’ communications.

TON Foundation welcomes the news of Durov’s travel

The crypto market has reacted positively to the news of Durov’s travel to Dubai. The price of The Open Network (TON) is up 20% over the past 24 hours, according to CryptoSlate data.

The TON Foundation has also welcomed the news, calling it a “significant moment of resolution” in a statement released on X. The statement noted:

“As part of the decentralized TON community, we have stood in solidarity with Pavel, supporting his unwavering dedication to defending the right to free speech and privacy online.”

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