The Telegram messenger founder, Pavel Durov, said that from 2021 the service would begin to monetize due to paid additional functions.
"Starting next year, Telegram will start monetizing. Moreover, we will remain true to our values and guarantees that we gave in the past. Thanks to the achieved scale, we will be able to monetize Telegram unobtrusively — most users will hardly notice any major changes, " he said.
As Durov stressed, all current messenger services will remain free. Still, resource-intensive functions that may be needed for "business teams and users with advanced needs" will already require financial investments.
Separately, the messenger founder said that the new format would be beneficial to the community itself, as it will allow commercial projects to attract profit and traffic. For example, the creators of paid stickers will be able to earn money.