Encrypted instant messaging app Telegram hits 100 million users

Encrypted messaging platform Telegram revealed that 100 million users are using its mobile app every month.

Co-founder Pavel Durov confirmed the numbers during a keynote presentation at the 2016 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, having launched his instant messenger in 2013. The 100 million number is up from a December 2014 disclosure that pegged Telegram at 50 million active users, with TechCrunch comparing the tally to Facebook Messenger's 800 million and the 1 billion users of Facebook-owned WhatsApp. In-house figures were confirmed via Telegram's website, with 350,000 new users said to be signing up each day, and some 15 billion messages sent every 24 hours.

Durov and elder brother Nikolai created VK, the Russian social network with upwards of 300 million users, before leaving to start work on Telegram in 2013. It's one of a number of social applications that are built on secure messaging protocols. Telegram scored full marks on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's November 2015 Secure Messaging Scorecard, though only with its Secure Chats mode activated.

Also passing the EFF test with flying colors were Signal, CryptoCat, and ChatSecure coupled with Orbot; Threema and Wickr also scored highly.