Telegram reported an outstanding $525 million in revenue for the first six months of the year.
Half of the profit from the positive report was credited to Toncoin. This marked a remarkable 190% increase compared to the same period in 2023.
Toncoin was initially developed internally by the team at Telegram. However, it is now being advanced by an open-source community. This followed because of the project’s legal issues with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2020.
According to the agreement, the telecom industry “received remuneration” for allowing Toncoin to serve as the exclusive payment method for small businesses looking to purchase advertising on the platform.
The social media entity reported huge gains in the value of its digital assets in the first half of 2024, which rose to $1.3B compared with nearly $400M at the end of last year.
Official documents indicate that approximately 50% of the revenue, amounting to $225 million, was generated from a singular transaction. According to reports, the corporation made $353 million in the first half of the year’s sales of digital assets in Toncoin, which was in June. Since then, it has sold Toncoins worth another $348 million.
Telegram was headed for its first annual profit before its owner, Durov was arrested. The entity posted a post-tax profit of $335 million in the first half of this year. With losses of $173 million, the data exceeds the $342 million in revenues that Telegram booked for the whole year of 2023.
The company has raised about $2.4B in debt financing set to mature in 2026. Telegram is also reported to have used some of its overall proceeds to buy back some of its own bonds for $124.5M.
In addition, advertising revenue also roughly doubled to a record $120M in the first half of the year. Premium subscriptions alone brought in $119M, compared with $32M in the same period last year, according to Telegram’s financial disclosures.
An insider familiar with the matter also said that the company had taken advantage of favorable market conditions to sell some of its crypto reserves.
Durov faces several preliminary charges. One of them can result in up to 10 years in prison, and Durov remains on bail in France.
As a result, Telegrams bonds are still trading below face value. They have recovered from the initial sell-off that followed Durov’s detainment, quoted at 95 cents on the dollar. They also plunged as low as 87 cents in August.
However, in the disclosures to investors, dated October 22, the company wrote that the matter “did not have a material impact on Telegram operations and the group’s business activities,” noting that the allegations targeted its founder rather than the company itself.
Moreover, experts have warned that Telegram, which is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, could struggle to bring in future advertising revenues.
Elsewhere, The Biden administration has decided to cut Intel’s much-anticipated CHIPS Act grant from $8.5 billion to less than $8 billion. The reduction follows a series of delays in Intel’s investments amid other struggles within the company.
Reports say the funding cut was influenced by Intel’s $3 billion contract to produce chips for the U.S. military. Despite being offered this lucrative defense deal, Intel’s performance issues and delayed timelines for critical projects in Ohio raised red flags.
Intel had originally committed to finishing its Ohio facilities by 2025 but has now pushed the completion date to the end of the decade.
Intel’s troubles have cast a shadow over the Biden administration’s efforts to revive domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The administration made a big splash when it unveiled the CHIPS Act in 2022, allocating $39 billion to boost U.S.-based chip production and reduce dependency on Asian suppliers.
Intel, a cornerstone of the plan, aggressively lobbied for the legislation and was rewarded with huge grants, tax credits, and federal loans. The delays in Intel’s projects, however, have disrupted the administration’s ambitious timeline.
Intel has been struggling to remain competitive in a global semiconductor race dominated by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
While TSMC recently secured a $6.6 billion CHIPS Act grant and is pouring over $65 billion into its Arizona factories, Intel is grappling with its worst quarterly loss in decades. The company’s market value has plummeted to $106 billion, down from its $500 billion peak in 2000.
The funding cut is a blow, but it’s not Intel’s only problem. The company’s recent financial report showed a 6% drop in sales and ongoing efforts to cut 15,000 jobs. Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s CEO, had positioned the company as a key player in America’s tech resurgence.