I think the main reason was Discord basically doumping free server hosting with VC money to eliminate competition.

Now that money has finally run out, it looks like things are reverting back to normal.

Has the money run out? I still have yet to spend a single dollar on discord.

	▲	m4rtink 28 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Reportedly they are plan in IPO & the latest identity verification crap they are pushing seems to be related. So yes, it looks like the money has run out and rather than pushing for direct monetization they try to turn to shadier stuff - get as much personal data as possible to either make the company look juicier for either an IPO or an acquisition.