Pavel Durov earned 100 million rubles by selling virtual bricks on Telegram

Telegram messenger made about 100 million rubles in half an hour through virtual bricks put on sale as part of the April Fool's Day prank. This was reported by the publication "Seti i signali", which specializes in news in the field of telecommunications and IT.

Virtual bricks sold out at record speed

On April 1, at 01:57 Moscow time, the sale of exclusive gifts began, and by 02:32 the entire batch of 7 thousand copies was sold out. The cost of each brick was 5 thousand Stars. iPhone users were reportedly able to purchase the gift for 13,690 rubles, while Android users were able to purchase it for 8,229 rubles.

As a result, Telegram earned between 58 million and 95.8 million rubles through the campaign. Owners of gifts marked "1APR" could attach them to their profiles, put them up for auction, or exchange them for stars.

Telegram's method of earning money through virtual gifts

This is not the first time Telegram has successfully monetized virtual gifts. On February 14, the messenger sold 2,000 digital "hearts", each of which was offered for 10,000 stars. According to Pavel Durov, this sale was completed in 6 minutes and brought Telegram about $400,000 in revenue.

NFT-gifts and the Stars system

NFT-gifts became part of the Telegram ecosystem at the end of 2022. At that time, a team of independent programmers launched the TON Gifts service on The Open Network blockchain. This step further developed the messenger's digital economy, providing users with the opportunity to exchange virtual goods.

On October 5, 2024, Telegram officially introduced the ability to send gifts using Stars, the platform's internal currency. This further expanded the messenger's monetization mechanisms and opened the way for new sources of income.

Telegram's large income in a short period of time from the sale of virtual bricks once again confirmed its success in the digital economy. The messenger, led by Pavel Durov, continues to effectively implement innovative monetization models, sensing the interest of users. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”