Telegram founder Pavel Durov stated as we speak that the service now has greater than 1 billion energetic customers. This quantity is up from final 12 months’s reported 950 million month-to-month energetic customers.
Durov additionally famous that the corporate registered $547 million in earnings final 12 months. He had introduced the corporate’s profitability in December however hadn’t offered any numbers at the moment.
The founder, who not too long ago returned to Dubai after clearance from France, additionally took a jab at Meta-owned rival WhatsApp and known as it an affordable imitation.
“Forward of us stands WhatsApp — an affordable, watered-down imitation of Telegram. For years, they’ve desperately tried to repeat our improvements whereas burning billions on lobbying and PR campaigns to sluggish us down. They failed. Telegram grew, turned worthwhile, and — not like our competitor — retained its independence,” he stated in an replace on his channel.
Durov was below investigation in France associated to alleged legal actions — reminiscent of facilitating organized fraud, unlawful transactions, and the sharing of CSAM (youngster sexual abuse materials) — on Telegram. He additionally spent a couple of days in police custody in August.
Outdoors China, WhatsApp stands tall by way of lead in standard chat platforms with greater than 2 billion month-to-month energetic customers. Each corporations are additionally competing to get the mindshare of companies and creators by means of numerous options reminiscent of enterprise accounts and channels.
Telegram has moreover appealed to crypto fanatics by integrating the TON blockchain, wallets, and decentralized app ecosystem for unlocking content material, tipping creators, and in-app purchases for mini-apps and games. The corporate additionally rolled out a decentralized verification system in January by means of a community of third-party accounts.