Telegram to Raise $1.5 Billion Through Convertible Bond Offering, Supported by BlackRock, Citadel, and Mubadala

Telegram is embarking on a new capital raise, aiming to secure at least $1.5 billion through a five-year bond issuance with a 9% yield, sources told the Wall Street Journal.

This latest bond sale has attracted interest from major institutional investors, including familiar names like BlackRock, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, and new entrants such as hedge fund Citadel.

The capital raised will be primarily used to buy back existing debt from Telegram’s 2021 bond issue, which matures in March 2026. The new bonds also include a convertible option, allowing investors to swap their debt for equity at a discount should Telegram decide to go public.

Telegram originally built the TON blockchain (The Open Network), which has since been spun off as an independent entity. Recently, tokenization company Libre revealed plans to tokenize up to $500 million of Telegram’s debt on TON, under the banner of the Telegram Bond Fund (TBF).

The messaging app boasts an impressive user base of over 1 billion monthly active users and has expanded its paid subscriber count to 15 million, doubling in just one year, according to founder Pavel Durov.

Telegram’s financial turnaround has been notable. After posting a $173 million loss in 2023, the company reported profits of $540 million on revenues of $1.4 billion in 2024, and projects profits exceeding $700 million in 2025.

Revenue growth has been driven by enhancements to its advertising platform, new features such as digital gifts within chats, and a growing ecosystem of developer tools supporting bots and apps.

Requests for comment from Telegram and Citadel were not immediately answered.