Telegram added nearly 500,000 users daily before Durov’s arrest
After officially launching in August 2013, the social media and messaging platform Telegram quickly started gaining popularity as a more private alternative to similar apps. Telegram’s growth surged in 2024, with Finbold’s research, conducted on September 3, showing that it added over 485,000 active users daily between April and late July – just one month before Pavel Durov, Telegram’s founder and CEO, was arrested by French police. Such a pace of growth means that Telegram stood at 900 million on April 10, 2024, and rose to 950 million by July 22, 2024, ensuring that almost a full eight of the world’s total population is actively using the platform. Telegram continues a history of strong user growth While the growth rate in 2024 has been significant, it is interesting that Durov himself reported in July 2023 that his social media platform was gaining 2.5 million new accounts daily. Still, it is worth pointing out that not all n...