Transfer Crypto Just by Sending Messages? Telegram to "Stuff" a Crypto Wallet to 1 Billion Users This Summer
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Transfer Crypto Just by Sending Messages? Telegram to "Stuff" a Crypto Wallet to 1 Billion Users This Summer
Telegram, X, and Meta Battle on Three Fronts, Super App "Wallet War" Showdown This Summer
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Claude, TechFlow
TechFlow Editor's Note: Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that native non-custodial Gram wallets will be built into all Telegram applications this summer, offering zero-fee instant transfers to over 1 billion users. GRAM rose about 8% to $1.53 in response. Unlike the existing third-party operated @wallet bot, this wallet is developed by Telegram itself, allowing users to directly control private keys. In a window period where super apps like X Money and Meta stablecoin payments are competing to enter, Durov is betting on the crypto-native route, but the implementation promise of "the largest scale in human history" still lacks technical details and a concrete timeline.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced on his Telegram channel on July 21 that native non-custodial Gram wallets will be built into every Telegram application this summer, providing instant, zero-fee cryptocurrency transfer services to over 1 billion monthly active users.
Durov characterized this launch as "the largest-scale non-custodial crypto wallet deployment in human history." For comparison, MetaMask, currently the most widely used self-custody wallet in the crypto field, has users in the tens of millions; no crypto wallet has ever started with a user base of 1 billion.
Completely Different from Existing @wallet, Telegram Steps In Personally
This new wallet differs fundamentally from the existing @wallet bot in Telegram.
According to Decrypt, the existing @wallet is a mini-program developed and operated by the independent third-party company The Open Platform (TOP), not an official Telegram product. The service already has over 150 million registered users; the default mode is custodial (meaning user private keys are managed by a third party), and users need to actively switch to use its self-custody layer.
The new wallet announced by Durov is a feature natively embedded in the Telegram application, designed as non-custodial from the start, with users controlling private keys and assets themselves. Non-custodial means no intermediary can freeze, seize, or block transactions.
According to BeInCrypto, TOP founder Andrew Rogozov confirmed that the existing custodial @wallet service will continue to operate independently. However, key questions remain undisclosed: whether the old and new wallets will ultimately coexist, which assets the new wallet will support besides Gram, and how private key management will be handled for ordinary users who have never touched cryptocurrency.
GRAM Rises About 8%, But Still 88% Away from Previous High
After the news was released, GRAM (formerly Toncoin, the native token of the TON blockchain) rose about 8.5% to around $1.53 within 24 hours, with a market cap of approximately $4.18 billion. According to CoinMarketCap data, this partially offset the cumulative decline of about 25% since July, but it remains some distance from a substantial reversal.
GRAM's 200-day exponential moving average is far above the current price, and the long-term trend remains bearish. The token's all-time high was $8.25 (during the Telegram "Tap-to-Earn" game boom in June 2024), and it touched a year-to-date high of $2.89 in May 2026 when Telegram announced taking over the TON network. Returning from the current price to the May high requires an increase of about 88%.
From SEC Lawsuit to "Make TON Great Again", Durov's Seven-Year Return Battle
This wallet deployment is the latest chapter in a narrative line that began in 2018.
In 2018, Telegram raised $1.7 billion for the TON blockchain project, planning to issue a token named Gram. Subsequently, the SEC sued, determining the token was an unregistered security. In 2020, Telegram reached a settlement with the SEC, refunding investors $1.2 billion and paying an $18.5 million fine, completely exiting the project. Community developers took over, renamed the token Toncoin, and operated it independently for several years.
In 2026, Durov regained control of the TON network and launched a seven-step roadmap named "Make TON Great Again" (MTONGA). Steps publicly completed so far include: Catchain 2.0 upgrade achieving a 10x speed increase and sub-second transaction confirmation; base transaction fees reduced by 6 times; Telegram becoming the largest validator on the network; and the token rename (from Toncoin back to Gram) passed by 81% community vote on June 15. The built-in wallet may be the fifth step; the remaining three steps have not yet been disclosed.
Super App Payment War Heats Up, Telegram Chooses Crypto-Native Route
Durov's wallet announcement comes during a dense window where multiple super apps are simultaneously laying out payment functions.
According to Glitchwire, Musk's X Money launched on June 26 for U.S. Premium subscribers, offering 6% annual yield, Visa Direct peer-to-peer transfers, and 3% cashback, but currently supports only fiat currency; crypto and stock trading functions are on the roadmap but not yet launched.
Meta is also reshaping digital payments; reportedly, it has issued cooperation invitations to third-party stablecoin providers, planning to integrate stablecoin payments into WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook in the second half of 2026.
The route choices of the three super apps form a sharp contrast: X Money takes the compliant fiat route (holding money transmitter licenses in more than 40 states), Meta explores the stablecoin middle route, while Telegram directly bets on crypto-native non-custodial wallets. Telegram's advantages lie in its user base (over 1 billion monthly active users) and natural affinity with the crypto community; the risks lie in user education costs and regulatory uncertainty under the non-custodial model.
Zero-Fee Promise Still Lacks Key Details
The "zero fee" promised by Durov is another issue needing attention. Most crypto wallets still charge network fees, even if the amount is small. Telegram may bypass gas fees through internal subsidies or by adopting methods similar to off-chain settlement, but the specific technical solution has not yet been announced.
According to CryptoBriefing, in July 2025, Telegram launched a non-custodial TON Wallet to 87 million U.S. users as a proof of concept. This deployment proved that communication apps can distribute wallet infrastructure on a large scale without generating traditional crypto onboarding friction, but there remains a significant gap between the number of active on-chain wallets and the user base.
Durov has not given a more specific launch date other than "this summer."
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