DOGS airdrop disrupted Telegram Wallet and exchange services

Functionality on Telegram Wallet and several crypto exchanges was temporarily disrupted after millions of users rushed to trade DOGS.

Telegram Wallet notified the community of an overload on the storage solution as over 10 million Dogs (DOGS) users engaged in swaps and on-chain activity. DOGS is a mini-game on The Open Network (TON) inspired by Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s mascot, Spotty.

Crypto exchanges like Bybit reported service issues after the project airdropped around 440 billion tokens to participants. Binance also noted upgrade difficulties hours ahead of the distribution. Normalcy returned to exchanges like Binance and Bybit shortly after, but at press time, Telegram Wallet was still implementing fixes.

Meanwhile, users scrutinized MEXC for listing the token and opening trading before other exchanges. According to reports, the crypto exchange started trading DOGS at least one hour before other platforms.

The early listing introduced price disparities and volatility, much to the chagrin of users waiting to swap the airdrop.

DOGS surpassed Bitget’s $550m FDV prediction

As crypto.news reported, Bitget predicted that DOGS would instantly achieve a $550 million fully diluted valuation, which refers to a token’s value based on its total supply.

Data showed a $707 million FDV for the TON-powered web3 game token. The digital asset changed hands around $0.0012, similar to its pre-market trading price before the airdrop.

The token was the latest Telegram mini-app to launch its token, following the footsteps of projects like Notcoin (NOT). Users also anticipate an airdrop from viral mini-app Hamster Kombat despite multiple delays from the team.

In related news, Telegram’s Durov was apprehended on an arrest warrant in France over the weekend. French President Emmanuel Macron said Durov’s detention was a judicial inquiry into illegal operations on Telegram rather than a political crackdown on individual privacy.

The news caused an uproar within the crypto community and on social media, as billionaires and industry stakeholders blasted French authorities for Durov’s arrest.