Telegram's Crypto Comeback Tour Hits 1B Users, Gram Wallet In Tow 🚀

Telegram plans to embed a native non-custodial Gram wallet across every version of its messaging app this summer, a rollout that would place self-custody crypto payments within reach of its more than 1 billion monthly active users. Founder Pavel Durov announced the initiative on Tuesday, saying the wallet would let users send cryptocurrency instantly and without fees, calling it "the largest rollout of a non-custodial crypto wallet in human history." Telegram has not disclosed a firm launch date or additional technical details.

The wallet will support Gram, the native token of The Open Network (TON). The Open Network is the blockchain closely integrated with Telegram, and the token was recently renamed from Toncoin to Gram, reviving the name from Telegram's 2018 white paper. The rebrand is part of a broader roadmap to expand crypto services and Web3 functionality within Telegram. Telegram ceased work on its own blockchain in 2020 after settling with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, paying an $18.5 million civil penalty and returning $1.2 billion to investors from a $1.7 billion raise. Community developers subsequently continued the chain under the TON banner.

The new wallet differs from Telegram's existing @wallet bot, which has more than 150 million registered users. The @wallet bot is operated by The Open Platform, a separate company, and defaults to custodial mode in which the service holds user keys, with a self-custody layer available upon activation. A native wallet built into every version of Telegram would be non-custodial from the start, placing keys directly with users. Telegram has not announced whether the new wallet will replace or coexist with @wallet, which additional assets it will support beyond Gram, or how key management will scale to first-time crypto users.

Market reaction followed the announcement. Gram, the native token of The Open Network (TON), rose roughly 7% on the news, reclaiming $1.52 and lifting its market capitalization to $4.18 billion from lows near $1.36 the previous day. The move partially offset a 25% decline the token had recorded through most of July, though it remained well below earlier levels. For comparison, MetaMask, among the most widely used self-custody wallets, reports tens of millions of users, and no crypto wallet has launched with a billion-user distribution on day one.