Telegram launches native non-custodial crypto wallet for 1 billion users
In brief
- Telegram deploys native non-custodial wallet across all app versions, replacing @wallet bot
- New wallet supports Gram (formerly Toncoin) with instant, zero-fee transactions
- Durov calls it the largest non-custodial wallet rollout in history
- Gram surged 7% to $1.52, reaching $4.18 billion market cap on announcement
- Wallet launch marks step one of 'Make TON Great Again' seven-step roadmap
A non-custodial wallet for the masses
A non-custodial wallet means users hold the keys to their own funds. This differs sharply from Telegram's existing Wallet bot (@wallet), which already has over 150 million registered users but runs partly in custodial mode, with a company holding the keys on behalf of users. The @wallet bot is built and operated by The Open Platform, a separate company, not Telegram itself.
The new wallet changes this model entirely. It'll be native to the app, baked into every version of Telegram rather than something users have to find and activate. The @wallet bot defaults to custodial mode unless users deliberately switch to its self-custody layer, but the new wallet would be non-custodial from the start.
This matters. A built-in wallet lets the average Telegram user send crypto the same way they send a text message—no exchange account, no bank transfer, no middleman. For context, Metamask, the most widely used self-custody wallet in crypto, counts tens of millions of users. Telegram's native wallet could dwarf that.
"This summer will see the largest rollout of a non-custodial crypto wallet in human history." — Pavel Durov, Telegram founder
What remains unclear
Several specifics about the new wallet remain unannounced, including whether it replaces or coexists with @wallet, which assets it will support beyond Gram, and how key management will work at scale. These details matter for both users and developers.
The timing is significant. The TON blockchain was upgraded and is now 10× faster with subsecond transactions. Durov outlined a seven-step plan called Make TON Great Again, with the wallet announcement as step one. The next step in the plan is to cut already low transaction fees by 6×.
Market reaction and history
Gram jumped roughly 7% on the announcement, climbing back above $1.52 at a $4.18 billion market cap from lows near $1.36 the day before. The move partially offset a punishing 25% slide the coin posted through most of July.
Telegram's crypto journey has been turbulent. The company created the original network in 2018, raising $1.7 billion from investors for a token it planned to call Gram. The SEC sued, arguing those tokens were unregistered securities. Telegram settled in 2020, returned $1.2 billion to investors, paid an $18.5 million civil penalty, and walked away from the project.
Community developers kept the chain alive as Toncoin for years, until Durov retook the reins in 2026. In June, the rebrand from Toncoin to Gram went live following an 81% community vote. Now, with a billion-user platform and a faster blockchain, the wallet announcement signals Telegram's serious return to crypto.
