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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.
Pavel Durov’s arrest in France for allegedly failing to regulate legal content material on Telegram, the Russian-born billionaire’s messaging app, has sparked an intense debate in regards to the limits of free speech and the duties of huge tech companies to reasonable their platforms.
Financially talking, nonetheless, cryptocurrency issues as a lot to Telegram’s bottom line as messaging.
FT Alphaville obtained its fingers on the privately held firm’s 2023 financials, which present crypto transactions offering a giant chunk of its income.
Telegram Group, which is integrated within the British Virgin Islands and has one in all its primary working subsidiaries within the United Arab Emirates, booked $342.5mn of income final 12 months on a hefty working lack of $108mn. Right here’s the PnL assertion, signed by Durov and given a clear invoice of well being by PwC’s Dubai department in April:
Eagle-eyed readers could have already noticed the “achieve on revaluation of digital property” strains, of which a modest $500,000 was booked by the PnL and a extra substantial $86mn by different complete earnings.
Turning to the breakdown of Telegram’s income, the “built-in pockets” and “sale of collectibles” line objects may also probably set off the spidey-sense of any crypto-conscious reader:
Mixed, the 2 line objects make up over 40 per cent of Telegram’s revenues.
You may additionally have seen that the so-called “built-in pockets” is a brand new enterprise line for Durov’s firm. Because the accounts additionally clarify:
Throughout the 12 months ended 31 December 2023, the Group began producing revenues from enabling entry to the Built-in pockets (Notice 13). The Built-in pockets is a software program program that permits customers to retailer, ship, obtain and commerce crypto property.
Telegram provides additional disclosure on what digital property, collectible gross sales and its built-in pockets imply for its enterprise, right here:
Digital property
The Group sells totally different collectibles and gives Built-in pockets companies in alternate for non-cash consideration within the type of Toncoins (digital property) that are accounted for beneath IAS 38 — Intangible property.
These digital property are initially recorded at value and are subsequently measured beneath the revaluation mannequin at honest worth much less any collected impairment losses at every reporting date contemplating the presence of an lively marketplace for the Toncoin. Any honest worth actions above value are recorded by different complete earnings in a separate reserve known as ‘Revaluation surplus’ inside fairness whereas any honest worth actions beneath value are first offset towards current credit score balances beneath the revaluation surplus with any extra over and above this stability being recorded by revenue or loss.
The Group holds these digital property for its personal account for funding functions (that’s, capital appreciation) over prolonged durations of time with subsequent gross sales made at administration’s discretion when the market situations are beneficial. Good points and losses on disposals are decided by evaluating the proceeds with the Carrying quantity and are recognised in revenue or loss for the 12 months when the asset is derecognised. On the time of derecognition, the related quantities recognised within the Revaluation surplus are transferred to Retained earnings.
And right here:
Income from the sale of collectibles. The Group sells totally different collectibles (usernames, digital cellphone numbers) to its customers. The associated income is recognised at a time limit when the collectible is assigned to the consumer. The Group additionally allows the sale of collectibles between customers and receives the payment for facilitating the sale.
Toncoins (digital property), a non-cash consideration is accepted as consideration for one of these sale. Toncoins are measured and recognised at honest worth on the time of the Group fulfilling its efficiency obligation: assigning the collectible to the consumer or facilitating the sale between customers. The Group determines the honest worth of the digital property primarily based on quoted costs on the lively exchanges.
Built-in pockets. The Built-in pockets is a software program program that permits customers to retailer, ship, obtain and commerce crypto property. Throughout the 12 months ended 31 December 2023, the Group recognised income from the mixing of the Built-in pockets on the time of the availability of the appliance programming interface to The Open Community Basis enabling Built-in pockets’s integration into Telegram App, and from offering steady entry of Telegram customers to the Built-in pockets from menus contained in the Telegram App on an unique foundation over the time period when the service has been supplied. The Group usually gives companies associated to the Built-in pockets on a prepayment foundation. There isn’t a financing element, as a result of the companies are rendered inside a interval lower than 12 months from cost.
Toncoins (digital property), a non-cash consideration is accepted as consideration for one of these sale. Toncoins are measured and recognised at honest worth on the time when the Group receives the consideration.
The TON blockchain that underpins Toncoins was initially developed in-house at Telegram, drawing in supporters that included outstanding rich Russians. It’s now developed independently of the corporate by an open-source neighborhood, nonetheless, after the venture bumped into regulatory troubles in the US.
Turning to the stability sheet, digital property make up a giant chunk of Telegram’s property. Valued at practically $400mn, tokens are far bigger than its money and money equivalents:
Telegram additional breaks down final 12 months’s improve in its crypto holdings right here:
Elsewhere within the related-party transactions part of the accounts (one in all FTAV’s favorite sections in any set of monetary paperwork), we study that other than buying $64mn of Telegram’s convertible bonds final 12 months, Durov additionally bought $300,000 value of Telegram Premium subscriptions for a giveaway, paying the corporate in Toncoin:
For sure, Toncoin merchants haven’t shrugged off the information of Durov’s arrest. Value chart courtesy of CoinMarketCap:
Usefully for Telegram, the events-after-the-reporting-date part of the accounts exhibits that it bought a giant chunk of its Toncoin forward of the value crash:
Whereas Telegram is 100 per cent owned by Durov, the corporate has raised north of $2.3bn of convertible bonds from blue-chip traders equivalent to sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds, and tech-focused traders.
Even leaving apart the heavy reliance on crypto and the substantial liabilities, one may query whether or not a enterprise that needed to burn by over $450mn of working bills to make $342.5mn of income is definitely worth the “$30bn-plus” valuation Durov touted to the FT earlier this 12 months.
In the case of its founder’s arrest, nonetheless, traders in Telegram’s convertible bond that correctly learn the accounts can’t say they weren’t warned:
Since its founding, the Group has been firmly dedicated to guaranteeing the privateness of Telegram’s customers. The Group’s core worth of consumer privateness has not prevented Telegram from actively partaking in efforts and technical options to fight abusive, malicious or violence-inducing content material on-line. The core values of the Group have led to Telegram’s recognition with its customers. Nonetheless, the Group’s operations could be affected by authorized and regulatory frameworks in several international locations that are topic to frequent modifications and ranging interpretations.
