Telegram reports $400 million worth of crypto: report
Instant messaging app Telegram, long a favorite tool of the crypto community, had $400 million worth of crypto on its books in 2023, according to a new report from The Financial Times.Approximately $148 million – or 40% – of the company’s revenue – derives from crypto, including collectibles and integrated wallets which enable users to send and trade crypto.The company, which was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Dubai, has a growing user base of almost a billionusers, with the largest number of downloads of the chat app found in India and the U.S. The crypto community has flocked to the messaging app to share market sentiment around bitcoin and various altcoins.Recently, however, Telegram entered the news when its CEO and founder Pavel Durov was arrested in France for failing to stop a vast array of unlawful activity on the app. Durov was recently released from custody after paying a bail request of approximately $5.5 million. Despite being born in the Soviet Union, the tech founder has three different passport – French, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Russian – which he released to French authorities.Telegram has rejected the French court’s charges: “It [was] absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” the company said.Telegram's original cryptocurrency, known as TON, is currently trading at $5.40, according to CoinGecko. The coin's market capitalization is currently languishing at $13.6 billion, CoinMarketCap says.
