Pavel Durov says Telegram will ship a native non-custodial Gram wallet inside every Telegram app this summer. He promised instant zero-fee transactions for more than 1 billion users, and GRAM climbed over 8% after the post.
The Telegram founder made the pledge on his official Telegram channel on Tuesday. It marks his most aggressive step yet toward making Gram the app’s default currency.
Native Gram Wallet Promises Zero-Fee Transactions at Scale
Durov framed the rollout as a first for the industry.
“This summer will see the largest rollout of a non-custodial crypto wallet in human history. Instant zero-fee crypto transactions for over a billion users are about to become reality. We’re bringing a native non-custodial Gram wallet to every Telegram app!” Durov wrote on his Telegram channel.
Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens
The new wallet is separate from Wallet in Telegram, the custodial multi-chain product built by The Open Platform (TOP). Its founder, Andrew Rogozov, said the two will coexist for different audiences.
“Telegram Wallet serves as a simple gateway into crypto, whereas Wallet in Telegram is built for users seeking advanced trading, investment, and asset management capabilities,” Rogozov told BeInCrypto.
The pledge builds on the rebrand from Toncoin that took effect on June 15 with 81.22% community approval.
Telegram, which also launched an Apple Watch app during the rebrand, took over network development in May and cut transaction fees roughly sixfold.
GRAM Price Reacts to the Wallet Pledge
GRAM traded near $1.53, up 8.4% in 24 hours with a $4.17 billion market cap, per BeInCrypto Rankings. The token ranks 25th overall yet remains down more than 54% over the past year.
Skeptics persist, however. Blockstream CEO Adam Back recently questioned GRAM’s inflation mechanics after Durov compared the token favorably with Bitcoin (BTC).
Self-custody at Telegram’s scale is untested. Whether a billion users activate the wallet, rather than simply receiving it, will decide the rollout’s real impact.
