Telegram – The Million Million Mail for Confidentiality and Freedom of Expression – announced a record $ 540 million in 2024, despite a criminal investigation targeting its founder, Pavel Durov, temporarily detained in France, informs Financial Times. According to an internal document obtained by the Financial Times, the company based in Dubai has generated total $ 1.4 billion revenues, an explosion of growth compared to only 343 million in 2023. Telegram thus passed from a loss of $ 173 million in 2023 to its first year on profit. Half of last year's revenues come from the so-called «partnerships and ecosystems»-essentially, mini-APPS applications built by external developers directly in Telegram, especially for trade and gaming. They run on the Ton blockchain, initiated by Telegram and now supported by the Open Source community. Toncoin, cryptocurrency of the platform, is deeply integrated into the application: it is used for payments in mini-APPs, buying ads and other commercial functions. The rest of the revenues come from advertising ($ 250 million) and premium subscriptions ($ 292 million). Despite financial success, the future Telegram is not without shadows. The founder of Pavel Durov, of Russian origin, but a French citizen and the United Arab Emirates, are facing serious accusations in France for the alleged negligence in combating illegal content, such as abuse of minors and terrorism on the platform. Detained in August 2024 in Paris, Durov argues that the real reason for the detention was a geopolitical one. He accuses the French secret services of trying to prohibit the conservative voices in Romania before the elections. «To say that Telegram does nothing against child pornography,» he wrote on X (former Twitter). France denies the accusations. Despite the tense legal context, Telegram is preparing to launch an offer of $ 1.5 billion bonds, to redeem the existing debts. Bonds come with an attractive interest of 9% and offer investors the option to buy shares at a possible listing (IPO) with a 20% discount, similar to previous shows. The management of the company told potential investors that all financial objectives have been achieved and that, if the market allows it, the IPO becomes a real option. However, the criminal case in France remains a possible major obstacle. With an internal team of only 60 people and most of the outsourced moderation, Telegram operates on a global scale and has exceeded the impressive 1 billion monthly active users. In a world dominated by giants such as Meta or Google, Telegram continues to play the Book of Independence-financial, technological and ideological.
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