Telegram Pulled a Reddit Move this Valentine's Day - And It Worked!
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I've been following Telegram's revenue ever since the messaging app debuted a direct monetization model that isn't ads a few years ago. Since the addition, revenue has been growing steadily.
Our App Intelligence shows Telegram earned $71M after store fees in 2024.
Revenue spiked on valentine's day as many of Telegram's users professed their love for the service - just kidding, revenue spiked because Telegram pulled a page from Reddit's playbook and it worked.
Telegram launched nine collectible gifts (like stickers), all of which were limited. Four of those could be turned into customizable NFTs which could then be traded, extending their reach.
Reddit got into the same business in the past and to date, its best revenue peaks were all related to when new collectibles came out.
The new gifts propelled Telegram's single-day revenue to the highest it's ever been. Our estimates show Telegram earned $735K from its mobile app on the 14th. And that's after store fees.
Selling something limited and making money is kind of expected, but here's what I didn't expect: Telegram's reach.
Normally, such campaigns get a lot of revenue growth from the US, which happens to be Telegram's biggest paying market, but this one saw growth all over. Revenue in the US rose 82% when compared to the Friday before while revenue from Germany, Telegram's second largest market by revenue, rose 108%. Revenue in Poland rose 312% and in the UK rose 106% - both are in Telegram's top five markets.
I'm not sure if this is a fluke or a real growth strategy. NFTs were fire-hot for a little while a few years back but lost their momentum just as quickly as they gained it. But between things like this, meme coins, and even Bitcoin dancing with six-digit value, they all might be making a comeback.
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All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.
