Telegram considers the listing

London-listed Telegram, which owns the messaging app of the same name, is considering an initial public offering (IPO) as the number of users on the platform approaches one billion, its CEO told the Financial Times. Telegram's Pavel Durov informs theregister.com.

Durov expressed hope that the company could become profitable in 2024 or 2025, meaning that listing its shares would be a possibility in the near future. Official Telegram did not commit to a firm timetable for a listing, but according to the FT, a US launch seems likely. According to the quoted source, Durov said that Telegram "has analyzed several options for the IPO".

Durov claims that potential investors have offered the company valuations in the order of 30 billion dollars.

The company surpassed 700 million users in 2022, and in 2021 launched sponsored posts, which it described as "minimal, privacy-compliant ads that can appear on select public channels." Telegram's CEO also says: "The main reason we started monetizing is because we wanted to remain independent."

Despite the addition of methods by which the application makes money, the number of Telegram users has continued to grow, and according to Durov, it now stands at 900 million. If this growth is sustained, a figure of one billion users is possible before the end of 2024, according to the cited source.

The Telegram Messenger application was launched in 2013. According to the company, "everything sent on Telegram is securely encrypted". The company claims it does not collect data on its users, and they only require a phone number to sign up.

However, the secure and private nature of the platform has made it a favorite of criminals and a potential target for regulations such as the UK's Online Safety Act, where authorities could demand access to end-to-end encrypted communications. Note, however, that this end-to-end encryption for messages is not default. While Telegram uses encryption, customers must use secret chats to ensure that no trace of their messages is left in the app and their conversations are not part of Telegram's cloud service, according to the source.

Another popular chat app, WhatsApp, has about two billion monthly active users, according to Statista. However, changes to WhatsApp's privacy policy have led to increased interest in other messaging platforms, including Telegram.