[frollo]

Durov has been pushing a lot of blockchain nonsense over his app. I really like Telegram as a chat app, but his stunts are making me wonder whether it's still a good idea to depend so much on it.

[ignoramous]

They need to monetize. Blockchain is one way to capture value (unfortunately, the hype train has long left the station). Given Telegram's functionality (file sharing, large groups in particular), it is likely the costs are way too high.

[kennydude]

They could just literally charge the $16 or roughly whatever it is upfront. It means nothing for them to be in a blockchain except waste of resources (ironically increasing their costs...)

[super256]

> They could just literally charge the $16 or roughly whatever it is upfront. It means nothing for them to be in a blockchain except waste of resources (ironically increasing their costs...)

I don't think so. When you own a lot of crypto, and have lots of real dollars (Pavel has lots of real dollars!), you can manipulate price a little bit.

In 2019/2020 Telegram had to give investors all their money back, and the new TON project started without venture capital with a value of 0$. It's now 1.84$.

If their market makers are sophisticated enough, they will create enough liquidity grabs to sell telegram's TON bags over time for a nice sum.

I think they are aiming for creating a market + "eco system" similar to ETH.

[jrm4]

"They need to monetize."

Sigh.

Charge users directly or GTFO.

Seriously. If the product is "very secure messaging," then come right out and say "very secure messaging costs money, pay up."

Doing anything -- ANYTHING else lets me know they're not serious about the mission.

[nine_k]

But they do charge users directly: https://telegram.org/faq_premium?setln=en

It's a typical freemium model. I'd subscribe if I were certain that my money won't be going to Russia.

[Mo3]

Are you implying Telegram is being run by the Russian government?

[ptnxlo]

That's not the only way money can end up in Russia. Having employees there is a simple one.

[nine_k]

https://fragment.com/numbers -> "Oops. This service is not available in the United States."

Not a great way to monetize in one of the larger markets.

[rpgbr]

Curiously, Durov didn't mention Fragment/blockchain initiatives in his post about Telegram's monetization strategy[1].

[1] https://t.me/durov/203

[arglebargle123]

I've been pushing people to use Element (matrix) rather than Telegram whenever possible but Telegram has that critical mass and beats Element's usability by a mile.

[ehPReth]

i wish i had a ton of cash to dump into element/matrix development

[Arathorn]

If anyone reading this has a ton of cash to dump into element/matrix development, please head over to [e-mail] immediately (cf https://matrix.org/blog/2022/12/01/funding-matrix-via-the-ma...)

[nine_k]

Or maybe into developing a new Matrix client from scratch.

The networking libraries may be fine. The UI could be completely rebuilt.

(Sadly, I don't have a ton of cash, or even a ton of time, to dedicate to such things.)

[Arathorn]

fwiw we are developing a new Matrix client from scratch at Element, currently codenamed Element X: https://matrix.org/blog/2022/08/15/the-matrix-summer-special.... It’s built to outperform telegram :)

[mxuribe]

To extend your wish: i wish i had a ton of cash to dump into development of matrix's 3 top most client apps (including Element)...to diversify things, and to ensure they compete with each other for improved UX...and of course to speed towards a more p2p world (at least p2p for messaging). ;-)

[pndy]

I still can't forget about Telegram Passport [1, 1a].

[1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17618053