Telegram officially became profitable successful 2024, generating implicit $1 cardinal successful gross for the archetypal time, according to the platform’s founder, Pavel Durov.
Durove announced the accomplishment successful a social media post connected Dec. 23, marking a pivotal infinitesimal for the messaging platform, which has faced persistent fiscal challenges, accumulating debt, and ineligible scrutiny successful caller years.
Durov’s apprehension successful France earlier this twelvemonth underscored the mounting unit connected the company.
Revenue surge
Durov emphasized that Telegram’s gross surged from $350 cardinal successful 2023, reflecting a astir 3x summation from the numbers recorded past year.
He credited the maturation to divers monetization initiatives, including a premium subscription work launched 2 years agone that present has 12 cardinal progressive subscribers. Additionally, Telegram has aggressively expanded its advertizing strategy, leveraging its monolithic idiosyncratic base.
To further boost revenue, Telegram introduced paid contented channels, expanded video services, and launched ad-supported experiences. Durov highlighted that the institution expects to adjacent the twelvemonth with currency reserves exceeding $500 million, a notable betterment from its anterior indebtedness burden, which astatine 1 constituent approached $2 billion.
A captious origin successful Telegram’s fiscal rebound has been its crypto ventures. The institution capitalized connected the merchantability of Toncoin, a integer currency developed wrong the Telegram ecosystem, to amended liquidity and code outstanding debts.
Durov hinted astatine deeper crypto integration wrong the platform, with imaginable features including user-based mining and in-app exchanges, which could unlock caller gross streams.
Regulatory challenges
Despite this fiscal turnaround, Telegram continues to look heightened regulatory scrutiny. Governments and watchdog agencies, peculiarly successful Europe, Russia, and Iran, person agelong criticized Telegram for failing to forestall illicit activities facilitated done its platform.
The app has been implicated successful cases involving kid exploitation, cause trafficking, and the dissemination of extremist content. Persistent non-compliance with takedown requests contributed to Durov’s arrest successful France successful August, though helium was subsequently released connected bail nether strict conditions.
To code increasing concerns, Telegram has importantly ramped up its moderation efforts. Over 750 contented moderators were hired this twelvemonth alone, tasked with monitoring idiosyncratic enactment and removing harmful content.
According to the company, much than 15 cardinal groups and channels engaged successful amerciable activities were blocked passim 2024. Telegram has prioritized eradicating kid intersexual maltreatment worldly (CSAM), violent propaganda, and fraudulent schemes from its platform.
The station Telegram’s 4x YoY subscriber maturation pushes level to profitability appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.