Telegram founder Pavel Durov says app now has 1B users, calls WhatsApp a ‘cheap, watered down imitation’

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said today that the service now has more than 1 billion active users. This number is up from last year’s reported 950 million monthly active users. Durov also noted that the company registered $547 million in profits last year. He had announced the company’s profitability in December but hadn’t provided any numbers at that time. The founder, who recently returned to Dubai after clearance from France, also took a jab at Meta-owned rival WhatsApp and called it a cheap imitation. “Ahead of us stands WhatsApp — a cheap, watered-down imitation of Telegram. For years, they’ve desperately tried to copy our innovations while burning billions on lobbying and PR campaigns to slow us down. They failed. Telegram grew, became profitable, and — unlike our competitor — retained its independence,” he said in an update on his channel. Durov was under investigation in France related to alleged criminal activities — such as facilitating organized fraud, illegal transactio ... Read full article.