Skip to content
Fear & Greed29 Fear
Crypto market$2.51T−2.1%24h breadth102 up143 downBitcoin$74,676−1.8%Ethereum$2,121−5.4%Solana$87−3.5%XRP$1.09−6.1%BNB$685−2.1%Top gainersEDGE$0.370+11.6%NES$0.165+9.4%ARB$0.184+8%Top losersBLAST$0.0000058−52.2%KNTQ$0.379−24.5%RAIN$0.0046−15.5%StocksNVDA$187+2.8%TSLA$358+4.2%AAPL$342−0.5%MSFT$531−1%COIN$135−1.5%
Advertisement
Telegram sees over 700,000 self-custodial wallets created in 48 hours

Telegram sees over 700,000 self-custodial wallets created in 48 hours

Pavel Durov says the native Gram Wallet rollout drove a sharp spike in self-custody sign-ups, with 333,188 activations in a single day

by Estefano Gomez

2 min read

In Altcoins

Share

Follow on Google

Telegram users created more than 700,000 self-custodial wallets in just 48 hours, according to founder Pavel Durov.

The figure, shared by Durov on November 9, 2026, includes 333,188 wallet activations in a single day. The surge comes as Telegram continues its phased rollout of the Gram Wallet, a native self-custody wallet built directly into the messaging app.

How 700,000 wallets showed up so fast

The growth has a built-in accelerant. Telegram’s wallets switch on automatically when they receive Gram tokens.

That mechanic turns every transfer into a potential new user. It also explains how a single day could account for 333,188 activations, close to half of the 48-hour total.

Gram is the native token of The Open Network, or TON. It was previously known as Toncoin.

Advertisement

For the uninitiated, “self-custodial” means the user controls the wallet directly. There’s no exchange or company holding the funds on their behalf. Lose your recovery details, and nobody at a help desk can fix it for you.

Not to be confused with the other wallet

Telegram already has a crypto wallet presence, which can make this confusing.

The native Gram Wallet is separate from the @wallet mini-app and bot. That service has reported over 150 million users.

The distinction matters. The 700,000 figure refers specifically to self-custodial wallets created through the new native rollout, not activity on the existing bot.

The rollout has moved in stages. Durov announced plans for a large self-custody deployment in July 2026. A limited test with a select group of users followed in late August and early September 2026.

The latest numbers suggest the feature is now reaching a far wider audience. Telegram counts more than one billion users, and the wallet is meant to make peer-to-peer transfers simple across that network.

The fine print on the numbers

One caveat deserves attention. As of now, there has been no independent verification of on-chain activity or retention for these wallets.

Wallet creation and wallet usage are two different things. A wallet that switches on because someone received a small amount of Gram is technically a new wallet. Whether its owner ever sends, saves or spends anything is another question entirely.

So the 700,000 figure is best read as a measure of reach. It shows how quickly the feature can spread. It doesn’t yet show how sticky it is.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Next in Altcoins Kinetiq launches Elysium Layer 2 to expand Hyperliquid beyond perps