Author: C Labs Crypto Watch
According to an unaudited financial report disclosed by the Financial Times, Telegram, which is known as a dark version of WeChat, achieved revenue of $870 million in the first half of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 65%, a significant jump compared to $525 million in the same period of 2024.
From the perspective of "generating revenue", this is a rather impressive growth curve.
However, the problem lies on the profit side. Telegram recorded a net loss of over $220 million in the first half of 2025, compared to a net profit of $334 million in the same period last year.
The loss did not stem from the collapse of its main business, but rather from the sharp decline in the value of its Toncoin (TON) holdings in 2025, which led the company to write down the related assets.
PART 01, The Development History of Telegram
Founded in 2013, Telegram is one of the world's most important instant messaging platforms.
As of 2025, Telegram had over 900 million monthly active users, covering Europe, the Middle East, South America, and emerging markets, making it one of the fastest-growing social applications globally.
For crypto users, Telegram has become the de facto "public discussion platform" of the crypto industry: a large number of exchange announcements, project governance, airdrop information, OTC trading and on-chain communities all use Telegram as their core platform.
This gives it the dual attributes of a social platform and a financial information infrastructure.
PART 02, IPO Plans Shelved
Although Telegram has announced preparations for an IPO, a real obstacle is that its founder, Pavel Durov, is still under investigation in France (Breaking! Telegram founder arrested, TON price plummets).
Telegram has made it clear that it will not proceed with its IPO until the relevant compliance issues become clearer.
Fortunately, Telegram is not short of capital support. In May 2025, the company completed a $1.7 billion convertible bond financing round, backed by top institutions such as BlackRock and Mubadala.
PART 03, The Relationship Between Telegram and TON
The relationship between Telegram and TON is also complex.
In 2017, Telegram launched its blockchain project TON (Telegram Open Network), hoping to embed a payment system into its chat application, and raised approximately $1.7 billion in 2018. However, in 2019, it was forced to halt the project due to the SEC's finding that it was suspected of making an unregistered securities offering. Telegram reached a settlement with regulators and withdrew from the project in 2020.
Subsequently, TON was reborn as a community public chain, and Telegram reconnected with it in an "unofficial but deeply integrated" manner, and it shone brightly in 2024.
Unfortunately, its rapid growth came to an abrupt halt in 2024 after its founder, Durov, was arrested (TON Chain crashed? No new blocks have been produced for a long time).
Of the TON ecosystem projects that were once wildly popular, very few are still around, and their prices have generally fallen by more than 70%.
However, judging from the latest financial report, the relationship between Telegram and TON has long gone beyond the scope of "official support for a certain public chain".
TON-related revenue accounts for a significant proportion.
Financial reports show that about one-third of Telegram's revenue (about $300 million) comes from exclusive agreements related to TON, including wallet access, payment functions, and ecosystem integration.
Meanwhile, Telegram is also one of the most important sources of TON circulation, having sold more than $450 million worth of TON since 2025, accounting for about 10% of the current market value of TON.
This means that selling cryptocurrency is Telegram's main business, and Telegram is also the biggest player behind the TON price dump!
