Key Takeaways:
GRAM fell 8 percent to $1.29 on Aug. 4, a three-month low, after Apple briefly removed Telegram from the App Store over child sexual abuse content.
Apple said in a statement that its review found "content that violates our strict guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material," and the app was restored after Telegram "promptly removed the content and banned the user who posted it." Telegram's official X account responded with "reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated."
Derivatives data confirmed the panic. GRAM's derivatives volume surged 490 percent to $123.27 million while open interest rose 1.2 percent to $93.28 million, per CoinGlass. Sell volume on perpetuals reached 7.57 million against 6.7 million in buys, Coinalyze data shows. The long/short ratio on OKX and Binance dropped below 1 to 0.97, indicating traders opened short positions.
The RSI fell to 38 with a bearish crossover, and GRAM broke below its nine-day moving average at $1.40, suggesting downside momentum could push the token below $1.30. However, since the flagged content was removed and the app restored within four hours, the reversal is likely short-lived, with $1.42 and $1.46 as immediate upside targets.
The App Store removal was the latest in a series of regulatory pressures on Telegram. Australia's eSafety commissioner initiated legal action last week over alleged failures to remove extremist content, while Russian authorities charged founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism in late July. Telegram said it has removed more than 337,900 groups and channels related to child sexual abuse material in 2026.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, criticized Apple's handling of the takedown, writing on X that "Apple capriciously removes a vital communication and privacy tool from availability to a billion users." The app was unavailable across all 175 tested App Store storefronts for roughly four hours before restoration, with existing installations continuing to function throughout.
GRAM's recovery to $1.38 at press time, down 1.09 percent on daily charts, suggests the sell-off was driven by fear rather than fundamental deterioration. The token's ability to hold above $1.30 in the coming sessions will determine whether the downside momentum persists or fades as the Telegram ecosystem returns to normal operations.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
