Telegram’s revenue rose 65% to $870 million in the first half of 2025. However, Toncoin write-downs and $500 million in frozen bonds have made things harder.
Telegram, a messaging app that supports cryptocurrencies, made more money in 2025 as it looked into the possibility of going public (IPO).
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Telegram made $870 million in the first half of 2025, which is 65% more than the $525 million it made in the same time period the year before.
“Exclusivity agreements” brought in around a third of that, or $300 million. These agreements were coupled to earnings from the Telegram-connected cryptocurrency Toncoin (TON$1.93).
The FT, citing unidentified sources, reported that the report also said that $500 million of Telegram’s bonds have been frozen in Russia’s official securities depository because of Western sanctions.
Toncoin write-downs weigh on profitability
Telegram lost more than $220 million in the first half of 2025, while it made a net profit of $334 million in the first half of the previous year. In 2025, the corporation wants to make $2 billion in sales.
CoinGecko says that Telegram lost money because it had to write down the value of its Toncoin assets, which dropped 69% of their value in 2025.
The paper added, “The company told investors it had sold more than $450 million in Toncoin so far this year.”
According to CoinGecko data, the amount would make up nearly 10% of TON’s market cap of $4.6 billion by the time this article was published.
Bond exposure and sanctions concerns
A Telegram representative claimed that the $500 million number alludes to a bond offering from 2021 in response to the bond freeze in Russia. The spokesman said that Russian investors were not allowed to take part in Telegram’s most recent bond issue in 2025.
elegram is not dependent on Russia or Russian capital and does not face bond-related issues because of sanctions. Sanctions do not create risks for Telegram: funds for bond repayment are sent to an international intermediary, and payments to bondholders are not the company’s responsibility, even if some holders can’t get them.
Telegram has offered a number of bonds in the past few years, including a $1.7 billion convertible bond offering that was made in May 2025. BlackRock, a huge investment corporation, and Mubadala, an investment firm from Abu Dhabi, are said to have been involved in the sale.
Sources at the FT said that Telegram purchased back majority of the bonds that would mature in 2026. The news came out while Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is still being formally investigated in France for the platform’s apparent failure to deal with crime, particularly content that promotes child abuse.
Telegram reportedly told some bondholders in a recent call that it was still working with the authorities on Durov’s case and that it needed more time to resolve the issue before it could go public.