Telegram has started rolling out its native Gram Wallet directly inside the messaging app, bringing a new cryptocurrency wallet architecture to a platform that serves more than one billion users.

The rollout began with a select group on August 31 and is scheduled to expand across Telegram's entire billion-plus user base over the next couple of weeks. The launch follows Telegram's July plan to bring a native Gram wallet into every version of its app. It also marks a milestone in Telegram's relationship with The Open Network: TON was originally developed by Telegram, which abandoned the project in 2020 after the US Securities and Exchange Commission blocked its token sale, leaving the network to be continued by the open-source community before Telegram renewed its involvement in recent years.

TON Validators Approve Shared Wallet Contract

The wallet operates through a TON smart contract whose core bytecode resides within the blockchain's network configuration rather than being independently embedded in each individual wallet.

TON validators approved the tg-wallet-v1 contract for inclusion under network configuration slot -123. As a result, future wallet revisions can be approved through validator voting and applied across all deployed wallets without requiring users to migrate their balances into new wallet contracts. Hosting wallet logic in network configuration is a departure from the approach of most crypto wallets, where each account typically runs its own self-contained smart contract or relies on external keys.

Each deployed account uses a small immutable contract that points to the shared wallet logic. Signed requests are authenticated against a stored public key, and the architecture supports signing-key rotation, including a transition from Telegram-controlled access to user-controlled keys. That transition path speaks to a long-running tension in crypto between convenience-focused, custodial onboarding and self-custody, where users hold their own keys.

The contract also supports bulk transfers of up to 255 messages, gasless transaction flows, and future wallet upgrades without replacing the account address.

Gram Wallet Moves Crypto Into Telegram's Core App

Telegram first announced the wallet in July, describing it — in Pavel Durov's words — as the largest rollout of a non-custodial crypto wallet to date. The original plan targeted instant zero-fee transactions for more than one billion users through a wallet built directly into Telegram rather than relying solely on separate bots or mini apps.

Telegram already supports cryptocurrency through other wallet products and TON-based applications, but the new Gram Wallet places the functionality closer to the messaging client's core infrastructure. Embedding payments natively in a messaging app positions Telegram alongside broader moves by major messaging and social platforms to add built-in financial features for their users.

The rollout also follows the June Toncoin-to-Gram rebrand, which changed the name of the network's native currency while keeping The Open Network, or TON, as the blockchain itself.

Rollout Expands Over the Next Two Weeks

Gram Wallet arrives after a series of TON infrastructure upgrades designed to handle heavier transaction loads. TON activated new collator infrastructure in August and increased validator-side capacity ahead of the wallet deployment — capacity planning that matters given that a fraction of Telegram's billion-plus users would still represent one of the largest potential user bases for any blockchain application.

The wallet contract can be upgraded collectively through validator-approved changes while individual wallet addresses and balances remain in place. That structure is intended to let Telegram add wallet functionality over time without forcing mass migrations as the product develops.

Access remained limited to the initial user group on August 31. Telegram plans to extend Gram Wallet across its billion-plus users over the next couple of weeks, placing the wider rollout in the first half of September.