I’ve been wondering how Telegram would survive after their token fell apart. I’ll admit, I didn’t expect ad-based revenue to be the solution. It makes sense in theory, but at the same time it might be a hard sell for existing users. Most people I know that use Telegram use it because it’s not WhatsApp. They appreciate privacy. While Telegram promises to protect privacy while serving ads, that’s become harder and harder for companies to stick to.

Then again, network effects. Telegram could probably do anything they want and still retain a sizeable chunk of their user base because of their current network effect.