Key Highlights
- Telegram has started rolling out Gram Wallet to selected users, with plans to reach its billion-plus users in the next few weeks.
- GRAM surged nearly 8% to around $1.45 after the announcement, while trading volume jumped 168% to about $119.63 million.
- Gram Wallet will support self-custody, payments, transfers, and zero-fee transactions, while Telegram’s existing Wallet in Telegram is being rebranded as Walt.
Gram climbed nearly 8% today before pulling back after Telegram began rolling out its native Gram Wallet to a selected group of users.
According to the Monday announcement on Telegram, the wallet is expected to reach the platform’s billion-plus users over the next few weeks, giving more people access to crypto payments and transfers directly inside the messaging platform.
After the announcement, GRAM jumped, nearly $1.45 before some of the gains faded. At the time of reporting, the token trades for $1.38, still up about 0.33% over the last 24 hours.
The trading volume also climbed, recording 168% increase in trading activity to about $119.63 million.
Telegram Begins Gram Wallet Rollout
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said Telegram would be “gradually rolling it out to our billion+ users over the next couple of weeks.” The rollout follows plans he shared earlier in the summer to launch a non-custodial Gram Wallet across Telegram’s apps.
Gram Wallet is a self-custodial wallet built into Telegram. In simple terms, users keep control of their crypto assets instead of handing control of them to a third party. The wallet will become the default wallet option available through Telegram’s user settings as the rollout expands.
The wallet will reportedly support transfers and payments across the Telegram ecosystem. Users will also be able to use it to buy Telegram Collectibles, including usernames and digital gifts.
Another feature highlighted by Telegram is the ability to make instant, zero-fee crypto transactions. Durov previously described the planned rollout as the largest non-custodial crypto wallet launch in history.
There is also a change behind the scenes that could make future wallet upgrades easier for users. Durov said validators have approved the smart contract powering Gram Wallet. Because of this setup, future upgrades will not require users to move their funds to new wallet contracts.
Gram follows Toncoin rebrand
The launch comes shortly after Toncoin was rebranded as Gram. The change is part of a wider effort to place the token around Telegram’s growing crypto ecosystem. The rebrand has also been described as the fourth step in Durov’s seven-step “Make TON Great Again” strategy, although he has not directly connected the wallet rollout to that roadmap.
Telegram is also changing how its other crypto wallet works. Wallet in Telegram is being rebranded as Walt and will no longer be the default wallet. Gram Wallet will mainly handle payments and transfers, while Walt will focus more on investment and trading.
The firm said Walt will still be available through Telegram search. It supports more than 300 crypto assets across four blockchains, as well as trading for more than 200 assets and more than 100 tokenized financial products.
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