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Pavel Durov Wants to Give a Billion Telegram Users a Crypto Wallet
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Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced on Tuesday that the messaging app will roll out a native non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet to all versions of Telegram this summer, targeting its over 1 billion monthly active users with instant, zero-fee crypto transactions. The wallet will support Telegram's native token, Gram, which was rebranded from Toncoin in June 2026 following an 81% community vote. Durov called the initiative 'the largest rollout of a non-custodial crypto wallet in human history.'
This development marks a significant shift from Telegram's existing crypto infrastructure. The current @wallet bot, built and operated by The Open Platform, has over 150 million registered users but defaults to custodial mode, where a third party holds the private keys. In contrast, the new native wallet will be non-custodial from the start, giving users full control over their fundsāsimilar to carrying cash rather than using a bank account.
Gram's price jumped roughly 7% on the announcement, climbing back above $1.52 with a market cap of $4.18 billion, recovering from lows near $1.36 the day before. However, the token remains 88% down from its May highs and had posted a 25% slide through most of July. The partial recovery highlights the market's cautious optimism about the wallet's potential to drive adoption.
The wallet's rollout could dramatically expand crypto usage, as no self-custody wallet has ever launched with a billion-user base. MetaMask, the most widely used non-custodial wallet, counts tens of millions of users. By embedding crypto directly into Telegram, Durov aims to make digital asset transactions as seamless as sending a message, potentially onboarding millions of mainstream users.
Durov's announcement revives a project that faced major regulatory hurdles. Telegram initially created the TON network in 2018, raising $1.7 billion for a token called Gram, but the SEC sued, alleging unregistered securities. Telegram settled in 2020, returning $1.2 billion to investors and paying an $18.5 million fine, before abandoning the project. Community developers kept the chain alive until Durov reclaimed leadership in 2026.
The rebrand to Gram and the wallet rollout are part of Durov's 'Make TON Great Again' initiative. Earlier this year, the TON blockchain received an upgrade that made it 10 times faster, with subsecond transactions and a sixfold increase in block rate. Durov has outlined seven steps to revive TON, with the next being a sixfold reduction in transaction fees.
While Durov's vision is ambitious, several details remain unclear. It has not been announced whether the new wallet will replace the existing @wallet bot or coexist with it, which assets beyond Gram it will support, or how key management will work at scale for crypto newcomers. Despite these uncertainties, the integration of a non-custodial wallet into a mainstream messaging app could set a precedent for mass crypto adoption, provided security and usability challenges are addressed.
