Telegram Messenger LLP

Telegram Messenger LLP operates in the development and provision of access to. to the Internet messenger Telegram

Performance indicators

2024

Making a net profit of $540 million

At the end of 2024, the Telegram messenger made a profit of $540 million. For comparison, a year earlier, losses of about $173 million were recorded. Such data are contained in materials published at the end of May 2025.

According to the Financial Times newspaper, citing a Telegram presentation for investors, in 2024 the company's revenue reached $1.4 billion. This is four times more than in the previous year, when the figure was $343 million. About half of the total revenue in 2024 was generated by "partnerships and ecosystem," including revenue related to mini-apps. Over $250 million in advertising revenues, while premium subscriptions provided $292 million.

Telegram reached an annual profit of $540 million at the end of the year

The Financial Times said that Telegram shared revenues with potential investors before issuing bonds worth about $1.5 billion. In 2025, Telegram expects to show revenue growth of 46% - up to $2 billion. At the same time, profit is expected to reach $720 million.

In March 2025, the creator of the messenger Pavel Durov said that the number of monthly active Telegram users exceeded 1 billion. At the same time, as noted, the platform is managed by a relatively small team of about 60 employees. According to Financial Times sources, the company is considering an initial public offering (IPO) if "the market situation becomes more favorable." An obstacle to the procedure may be the claims of the French authorities against Durov. The entrepreneur was detained at the Paris airport in August 2024, but then released on recognizance not to leave with an obligation to make a deposit of €5 million. He is charged with six counts, which include complicity in administering a network platform to allow illegal transactions as part of a criminal group.^[1]

Revenue of more than $1 billion and way out of losses

In 2024, Telegram's revenue exceeded $1 billion, and the messenger itself for the first time came out of losses. This was announced on December 23, 2024 by the founder of the project Pavel Durov.

According to him, for the first time in three years of monetization, Telegram began to make a profit. This was achieved, among other things, thanks to the Telegram Premium subscription, the number of owners of which tripled over the year and exceeded 12 million. In addition, an increase in advertising revenues was recorded: they increased "several times."

Telegram received revenue of more than $1 billion and for the first time came out of losses

2024 was very successful for Telegram. For the first time in three years of its monetization, Telegram has become profitable. The purpose of monetization is to ensure that you, our users, will always be our priority, "Durov wrote.

The founder of the messenger also notes that the company is completing 2024 with a cash reserve of more than $500 million, not including crypto assets. Telegram repaid a significant part of its debt obligations, which amounted to more than $2 billion.

Aleksei Pak, founder of the PurpleDoor advertising agency, connects user interest in Telegram Premium paid subscription with several factors. This, in particular, is a number of additional convenient functions and premium: exclusive stickers, increased speed of downloading media files and documents, lack of advertising (in some countries Telegram displays advertising messages in public channels to which more than 1000 people are subscribed), the ability to text decrypt any voice or video message, etc.

For those who are very active in Telegram, these are convenient things: hiding the phone, not being able to add to groups, not being able to write, especially when there is a lot of spam, more folders can be added. These are trifles that actually expand the functionality, "the Kommersant newspaper quoted Pak as saying.[2]

2023

Ownership of $400 million in cryptocurrency

As of the end of 2023, the Telegram platform owned about $400 million in digital assets. At the same time, the number of premium users of the messenger was approximately 4 million. Such indicators are reflected in Telegram financial documents disclosed at the end of August 2024.

According to the published data, in 2023, about 40% of Telegram's revenue was brought by activities related to digital assets, which belong to the areas of "integrated wallet" and "sale of collectibles." A wallet refers to specialized software that allows users to store, send, receive and trade cryptocurrency assets. In turn, the "sale of collectibles" covers user names and virtual phone numbers. The company also facilitates transactions between users for the sale of these items, receiving a commission for the provision of the service.

Telegram holds $400 million in cryptocurrency

The price of cryptocurrency Toncoin (TON) after the arrest of Pavel Durov in France decreased by about 20% - $6.8 to $5.6 as of August 26, 2024. Toncoin's market capitalization also suffered, down almost 2% to $13.42 billion. Despite the decrease in price and the change in market sentiment, various technical and market factors indicate that TON may be ready for a rebound. If the market perceives Durov's arrest as an isolated incident that will not cause fundamental damage to the Toncoin ecosystem, traders may see the possibility of buying against the background of panic.

According to Durov, the Telegram team has only about 50 employees, including 30 "strictly verified engineers." He said he recruited specialists by running programming competitions and trying to attract the winners of such competitions.^[3]

Losses at the end of the year - $173 million

At the end of 2023, Telegram's total loss amounted to about $173 million after taxes. At the same time, operating losses were at the level of $108 million, as stated in the materials published on August 30, 2024.

According to the Financial Times, referring to the financial statements of Telegram, in 2023 the company's revenue reached $342 million. The messenger belongs entirely to Pavel Durov, who was detained in France on August 24, 2024. It is noted that the arrest of the founder of Telegram may negatively affect the platform's plans for an initial public offering (IPO).

Telegram

According to the Financial Times, Telegram raised about $2.4 billion in debt financing due in 2026. In particular, in 2021, the messenger placed bonds for $1 billion, and the investors included Abu Dhabi state funds. In early 2024, the company raised $330 million. At the same time, according to the Telegram financial report for 2023, Durov personally acquired platform bonds worth at least $64 million as part of a comprehensive plan providing for the investment of "hundreds of millions" in the development of the messenger.

In 2023, Telegram's financial losses were partially offset by an increase in the value of digital assets. However, these assets also suffered in connection with the detention of Durov: against this background, the Toncoin rate fell by almost 20%.

It is noted that Durov plays a key role in making decisions regarding the future of Telegram. But such a centralized leadership style, according to Alexandra Urman, a researcher at the University of Zurich and an expert on social media, calls into question "whether Telegram can exist without Paul."^[4]

2024

The arrest of the founder of the company Pavel Durov in France due to the refusal to play according to the rules of the United States and their satellites

Main article: Pavel Valerievich Durov

Telegram's first clear intentions to enter the IPO were in January 2021 with a horizon of 2-3 years, but in 4 years no progress, why?

There are only two places to raise capital for a large technology corporation - China and the United States, but Telegram is banned in China, and undesirable in the United States. It is possible to exit in Europe or other US-related markets, but the essence does not change.

Telegram in its current form and structure will never be able to be located in the United States due to regulatory requirements, including the disclosure of information about the structure of equity capital, financial performance, and most importantly the disclosure of information about users and data processing methods.

There are a range of regulatory requirements for tech companies, but even more stringent requirements for social media and any platforms that manage user data.

In order to become public in the jurisdiction of the United States and allies (EU, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Singapore, etc.), Telegram will have to play according to the rules of the system, which means:

• Open a direct gateway for data exchange with the special services of the United States and the collective West.

• Introduce strict content moderation and filtering procedures.

• Disclose sensitive information about the structure of the Telegram ecosystem, methods of collecting, storing and processing information and introduce partial de-anonymization of users.

• Reveal the Telegram business model and hundreds more other requirements for public companies.

Durov did not play according to US rules, pursuing an independent policy, losing billions and possibly also freedom.

In the charges brought against Durov, a significant emphasis is placed on an attempt to bypass the financing mechanisms controlled by the collective West and this is a very important nuance.

After the SEC decision in early 2020, institutional investors in the United States and Europe turned away from Telegram, and the main demand for bonds was received from Middle Eastern investors.

Durov wanted to develop crypto projects, but the first attempt was forcibly frozen by an agreement with the SEC, and the second attempt began in 2024.

After three years of calm, Durov made a second attempt.

There were many events, but Spydell Finance highlighted four main concepts:

• Durov planned to make Toncoin the main cryptocurrency integrated into Telegram. This would allow users to transact, pay for premium features and support content creators directly in the app.

• One of the key projects was the development of a Toncoin-based payment system that would allow users to make instant transfers and payments. This would include not only internal transactions, but also support for external payments, which could make Telegram a full-fledged financial platform.

• An important initiative was the creation of a platform for decentralized applications (DApps) based on TON. This would allow developers to create and distribute applications within Telegram using decentralized infrastructure, which would increase security and independence from centralized servers.

• Durov also planned to introduce TON-based NFT support. The platform for creating, selling and exchanging non-interchangeable tokens was supposed to become an important part of Telegram, allowing users to create and trade digital assets directly inside the messenger.

From March to June, the 2024 of the TON crypt grew almost 4 times from 2 to 8 dollars (now 5.2).

TON could become the only cryptocurrency secured by real cash flows among a huge social base with the potential to generate hundreds of billions of dollars of turnover per year (real transactions in the ecosystem, not trade turnover).

Durov wanted to create his own financial system, isolated and independent of the fiat currency and the rules for the functioning of the global financial system.

Anonymous nature of Telegram + deep integration of Toncoin (built-in crypto wallet, end-to-end payments and settlements) + decentralized applications in the TON ecosystem + distributed architecture of a related ecosystem=a new financial and social world that is not controlled by the collective West and is not controlled by anyone among official structures.

For this, there were all the prerequisites and resources - almost 1 billion users and a developed digital infrastructure. Durov could become the most influential non-systemic person in the world.

End-to-end implementation of the crypto wallet through the @ wallet bot began in 2024, although integration was in April 2022. Plus, the expansion of channel monetization using crypto assets.

Apparently, an attempt to build an independent financial system (through crypto assets) acted as the final trigger for the "defeat of Telegram."

Pavel Durov is the brain of Telegram, providing promotion, financing and strategic development of the platform, while Nikolai Durov is purely technical aspects and programming of the system core.

$330 million bond issue

Telegram issued 330 million bonds dollars to guarantee further expansion, it said on March 18, 2024. Pavel Durov

2022

Fine €5.1 million from the Federal Department of Justice of Germany

On October 17, 2022, it became known that the Federal Department of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany imposed a fine on the Telegram messenger totaling 5.1 million euros for alleged violations in 2021 and 2022. German law on improving law enforcement on social networks (NetzDG).

Telegram FZ-LLC, as a provider of the Telegram social network, is charged with violations against the obligation to provide legal warning routes [about illegal content], as well as against the obligation to appoint an authorized person within the country, the document says.

Temporary blocking of the messenger in Brazil

In March 2022, the Supreme Court Brazil decided to block Telegram in the country. Local telecom operators have already begun to receive the corresponding notification.

Later in March, a judge of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil withdrew the decision to block Telegram, the messenger continues to work in the country.

Earlier, Pavel Durov explained the situation with communication problems, which arose, among other things, due to the workload of moderators due to the military operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine.

2021

The introduction of criminal liability to subscribers of extremist Telegram channels in Belarus

Subscribers of extremist Telegram channels in Belarus face criminal liability. This was announced in mid-October 2021 by the Main Directorate of the Republic for the Fight against Organized Crime (GUBOP) in its Telegram channel. Read more here.

$150 million investment from RDIF and two funds from the UAE

In March 2021, Telegram raised $150 million in investments from two funds from the UAE. Mubadala Investment Company and Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners invested in the messenger. The Russian Direct Investment Fund also invested money in Telegram along with Arab funds. Earlier in February, the founder of the service, Pavel Durov, personally met with the Crown Prince of Dubai.

Telegram raised $1 billion at 7%

The Telegram group in March 2021 for the first time placed its own bonds and raised about $1 billion on the market.

Telegram raised $1 billion at 7%, the minimum lot for participation was $500 thousand.

Bonds are placed until 2026, the first payment of the coupon is scheduled for September 2021.

$1 billion bond offering plan to give back to TON investors

In February 2021, it became known that Telegram Group Inc., plans to raise at least $1 billion through the placement of bonds among a limited number of investors from Russia, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

If Telegram decides on an IPO within five years, bondholders will be able to convert debt into shares at a discount of 10% to the offering price.

Money is needed for development and to return funds to investors in the TON blockchain platform, which was never launched.

2020: Telegram files complaint against Apple

On July 30, 2020, it became known that the Telegram messenger filed an official antimonopoly complaint with the European Commission against Apple over possible violations of competition rules in the App Store.

The corresponding document was sent to the head of the competition department of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager. The complaint states that Apple should allow owners of its devices to download software not only from the App Store, but also from other sources. As an example, Telegram cited the situation in 2016, when the messenger was forced to abandon the launch of the gaming platform due to violations of the App Store rules. For the same reason, Apple may allow a 30% fee on all app turnover in the App Store, including in-app sales and premium services, the document says. Telegram believes that Apple should "allow users to be able to download software not only from the App Store."

Even before Telegram, Spotify and Rakuten also complained that Apple takes 30% of revenue from the sale of all applications in the App Store.

In June 2020, Executive Vice President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager announced two antitrust investigations against Apple, one of them related to the App Store, the other to Apple Pay. Earlier, Telegram creator Pavel Durov criticized Apple, accusing the company of abusing market powers and "destroying" startups. The developer argued that Apple does not invest in creating third-party applications on its platform, while it is guaranteed to receive 30% of their turnover.

Earlier, Telegram founder Pavel Durov criticized Apple for cheating the price and censorship. According to him, the commission in the App Store overestimates the cost of applications by 30%, and Apple Corporation, which owns the store, reduces the privacy of user data and increases Telegram advertising by^[5].

2019: Durov's statement on the liquidation of the company

On January 11, 2019, it became known that Pavel Durov he decided to liquidate Telegram Messenger LLP, which acts as the main legal entity for the same name, and submitted messenger an application to the British the competent authorities. According to a statement dated December 19, 2018, Durov asks to exclude Telegram Messenger LLP from the state register of legal entities Great Britain and stop its registration.

In accordance Russian with the legislation, ARIs are obliged to provide their own, data To Roskomnadzor as well as transfer keys at the enciphering request of special services. The company fulfilled the first requirement, although not immediately, and considered the second technically impossible.

Durov does not report what the liquidation of Telegram Messenger LLP is connected with, but it is unlikely that the reason is to block the messenger on the territory of the Russian Federation. Most likely, this step is related to cryptocurrency, experts say^[6].

2018

Telegram promised to issue numbers and IP addresses of terrorists

As it became known on August 28, 2018, Telegram published an updated privacy policy on its official website, according to which the messenger administration undertakes to issue information about users to law enforcement agencies if requested.

As follows from paragraph 8.3 of the updated policy, Telegram can issue a person's IP address and phone number, but only if there is an appropriate court decision proving the user's involvement in terrorist activities.

If Telegram receives a court decision confirming that you are suspected of terrorist activities, we can disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities. So far, this has never happened. When this does happen, we will include this fact in the semi-annual transparency report, - spelled out in the updated rules.

Telegram intends to issue a transparency report every six months, which, presumably, will record cases of disclosure of user data.^[7]

Cancellation of ICO plans

The Telegram messenger canceled plans in May 2018 to publicly sell tokens, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source closely familiar with the situation. The reason for this decision was that Telegram raised enough funds at the stage of selling tokens to private investors, so it does not need investments from a wider range of people, Telegram writes^[8].

In total, the sale of tokens to private structures brought Telegram $1.7 billion, while the number of investors did not reach 200. The funds were raised over two rounds, which were held in February and March, respectively. The money will be spent on creating a new digital payment platform Telegram Open Network (TON), intended for a wide audience, reports the Wall Street Journal.

At the same time, Bloomberg connects the cancellation of the public offer of tokens with the growing interest of supervisory authorities in investments of this type. A public proposal would make Telegram more vulnerable to various measures by regulators such as the US Securities Commission, according to expert Spencer Bogart, a partner at Blockchain Capital, interviewed by Bloomberg.

ICO plans

In January 2018, Bloomberg reported that Telegram was preparing an ICO. Its first part will be closed and will take place in February 2018. During it, it is planned to sell tokens worth $600 million. Further, in March 2018, the second part of the placement should take place, this time public and also in the amount of $600 million^[9].

Thus, Telegram wants to raise $1.2 billion in total. Investors who take part in the offering will be able to use the tokens after they are traded on currency exchanges. This should happen in 2019. Having bought tokens during the closed part of the ICO, the investor will not be able to sell it within 18 months after the start of public trading in them.

The largest investors in Silicon Valley intend to invest in the initial coin offer (ICO), which is going to be held by the Telegram messenger, according to the Financial Times. In particular, venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Benchmark and Sequoia Capital are going to invest $20 million each in this ICO, the publication writes, citing sources familiar with the situation.

These firms are known for financing the largest technology companies, including, Google,, Amazon, and Apple Twitter Instagram others. Their interest in Telegram ICO confirms the fear of the largest technology financiers that promising startups are starting to outstrip traditional capital, the Financial Times notes.

According to a document distributed by Telegram, and a copy of which the publication has, the company plans to build a virtual economy where "the number of users can become large enough to push cryptocurrencies to widespread implementation." The publication calls the ICO Telegram "excessive" and "contradictory." Blockchain experts he interviewed doubt that Telegram can justify its ambitions, and are skeptical of the company's motives, raising funds with a clear shortage of other sources of income.

Telegram will create its own cryptocurrency and blockchain platform

The Telegram messenger plans to launch its own blockchain platform and its own cryptocurrency. The third generation blockchain platform should be called the Telegram Open Network, in turn, the cryptocurrency will be called Gram.

Main article: TON Telegram Open Network Blockchain platform

2017

Telegram refused to cooperate with any special services

Requests for information about users from governments of different countries and special services will be ignored by the administration of the Telegram messenger. "Yet

no government or intelligence agency in the world has received a bit of information from us. This will always be the case, "the service developers say. Speaking about data protection, the Telegram administration stressed that all information in both secret and cloud chats is encrypted and will not be easy to hack. "The keys required to decrypt the data are divided into several parts and are physically stored in several other data centers. At the same time, all data centers are located in different jurisdictions, so in order to force Telegram to issue any data, an unrealistic level of cooperation between several states will be required, "the developers note

.

Such a statement was caused by the fact that in May 2017 Roskomnadzor he sent a letter to Telegram demanding that the data be submitted to the register of information dissemination organizers. In particular, the information should contain a full and abbreviated (if any) name, country of registration, tax ID and/or ID in the trade register of the country of registration, location address, postal address, email address, domain name, email address of the resource administrator, provider hosting and description of the service (product) provided by the service. In case of refusal of assistance messenger , it can be blocked in the territory. Russia

Telegram administration ignores Europol requests

The management of the Telegram messenger refuses to provide information at the request of Europol. This was announced in May 2017 by the head of the European Police Agency Rob Wainwright.

Director of the European Police Agency Rob Wainwright expressed regret at the ignorance by the administration of the Telegram messenger of proposals for cooperation. According to him, despite the fact that contacts are established, but "this is not at all what we get from Facebook, Twitter and a number of others." He is also of the opinion that such a lack of interaction creates the greatest problems. Wainwright noted: "There is an opinion on Telegram that the application should be free and not cooperate with law enforcement agencies. This is the opinion of the CEO. They evade requests to a certain extent. I can't say they flatly refuse (to answer). But we have not yet had the opportunity to establish (with the messenger) the same constructive relations as with Facebook and Twitter^[10]

Notes