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Telegram Launches Gram Wallet, Plans Rollout to Over 1 Billion Users
01 Sep 2026, 20:30
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Telegram began rolling out its non-custodial Gram Wallet to an initial group of users, with plans to eventually extend the feature across its billion-plus user base.
<p>Telegram launched Gram Wallet for an initial group of users on September 1, beginning a rollout the messaging platform says will eventually extend the non-custodial wallet to more than 1 billion users globally. The move marks Telegram's most direct push yet into consumer crypto infrastructure, building on the platform's long and complicated history with blockchain projects.</p>
<p>Gram Wallet is designed as a non-custodial product, meaning users retain direct control of their private keys and funds rather than entrusting them to Telegram as a custodian. That design choice distinguishes it from many exchange-integrated wallets and aligns with the broader industry trend toward self-custody options embedded directly into high-traffic consumer applications, rather than requiring users to download separate standalone wallet apps.</p>
<p>The wallet's gradual rollout strategy -- starting with a limited initial user group before scaling toward Telegram's full user base -- reflects a cautious approach to what would be one of the largest simultaneous crypto wallet deployments in the industry's history if it reaches its stated billion-plus user target. Telegram has not detailed a specific timeline for the full rollout, suggesting the company plans to monitor performance and security with the initial cohort before expanding further.</p>
<p>Telegram's crypto ambitions date back to its abandoned Telegram Open Network project, which the company shut down years ago following a legal dispute with U.S. regulators over its token sale. Gram Wallet represents a notably different approach -- rather than launching its own blockchain network and token, Telegram appears to be positioning the wallet as infrastructure that can interact with existing blockchain ecosystems, avoiding the direct regulatory confrontation that ended its earlier effort.</p>
<p>If Telegram succeeds in rolling Gram Wallet out to even a meaningful fraction of its user base, the move could represent one of the largest expansions of crypto wallet access in the industry's history, given Telegram's scale as a global messaging platform. For an industry that has spent years trying to solve the challenge of onboarding mainstream users into self-custody, embedding a wallet directly into an app already used by over a billion people offers a distribution advantage most standalone crypto products can't match.</p>
<p>Gram Wallet is designed as a non-custodial product, meaning users retain direct control of their private keys and funds rather than entrusting them to Telegram as a custodian. That design choice distinguishes it from many exchange-integrated wallets and aligns with the broader industry trend toward self-custody options embedded directly into high-traffic consumer applications, rather than requiring users to download separate standalone wallet apps.</p>
<p>The wallet's gradual rollout strategy -- starting with a limited initial user group before scaling toward Telegram's full user base -- reflects a cautious approach to what would be one of the largest simultaneous crypto wallet deployments in the industry's history if it reaches its stated billion-plus user target. Telegram has not detailed a specific timeline for the full rollout, suggesting the company plans to monitor performance and security with the initial cohort before expanding further.</p>
<p>Telegram's crypto ambitions date back to its abandoned Telegram Open Network project, which the company shut down years ago following a legal dispute with U.S. regulators over its token sale. Gram Wallet represents a notably different approach -- rather than launching its own blockchain network and token, Telegram appears to be positioning the wallet as infrastructure that can interact with existing blockchain ecosystems, avoiding the direct regulatory confrontation that ended its earlier effort.</p>
<p>If Telegram succeeds in rolling Gram Wallet out to even a meaningful fraction of its user base, the move could represent one of the largest expansions of crypto wallet access in the industry's history, given Telegram's scale as a global messaging platform. For an industry that has spent years trying to solve the challenge of onboarding mainstream users into self-custody, embedding a wallet directly into an app already used by over a billion people offers a distribution advantage most standalone crypto products can't match.</p>