Telegram's 1 Billion-User Crypto Wallet Set for Summer Launch

Pavel Durov's Telegram has announced it will ship a native non-custodial Gram wallet to every version of its app this summer, giving over 1 billion users access to self-custody crypto without downloading a separate app.

The math checks out: MetaMask, crypto's most popular self-custody wallet, has tens of millions of users. Telegram's native wallet will mean users can hold their own private keys, with no company holding them, unlike the current @wallet bot, which defaults to custodial mode.

This isn't Telegram's first foray into crypto: the original Gram token was supposed to launch in 2019, backed by a $1.7 billion fundraise from 171 investors, but the SEC stepped in and blocked it as an unregistered security. By June 2020, Telegram settled, returning $1.2 billion to investors and paying an $18.5 million fine.

Durov's ambitions are clear: he wants to reclaim the project on his terms and turn every chat into a crypto wallet, making Gram the default currency of a billion-person network. The bull case is hard to ignore, a native Gram wallet in every Telegram app creates organic demand at a scale no exchange listing ever could.

The regulatory angle remains open: as Telegram gives 1 billion users self-custody keys, it also gives them the ability to lose everything with one phishing link.