Telegram opens its 'money wallet' feature to more than 1 billion users

Telegram 于 10 月 9 日扩大原生非托管加密钱包“Money”的访问权限

10 月 9 日，Telegram 宣布将其原生非托管加密货币钱包的功能扩展至更多用户，支持 Gram 转账及数字收藏品购买。此前被称为“Gram Wallet”的产品现已更名为“Money”，而旧版的钱包服务则独立以“Walt”品牌继续运营。此次扩展标志着该产品从 8 月份宣布的有限试点阶段迈出了重要一步。Telegram 不再要求用户访问单独的加密货币应用程序，而是直接在现有的消息传递界面中提供自我托管支付功能。

据 Crypto Times 报道，在周五的交易时段内，作为 Toncoin 前身的 Gram (GRAM) 代币价格一度上涨高达 8.7%。然而，此前关于钱包重新品牌化后出现急剧下跌的报道使得市场叙事变得复杂。

更广泛的推广覆盖超十亿用户群体

Walt 方面于 10 月 9 日确认了这一更广泛的推广计划，解释说“Money”此前仅向部分 Telegram 用户开放，现在正面向该平台超过十亿的用户群体进行更广泛的分发。当用户收到转入资金时，“Money”板块将会显示。激活后，用户可以从 Walt 账户为其充值，存储 Gram 并通过 Telegram 发送该加密货币。

The announcement builds on earlier reports about Pavel Durov's initial launch of Gram Wallet, when access was limited to specific groups. The latest announcement does not indicate that every Telegram account has this feature enabled. In addition, Telegram did not disclose how many people activated Money, recharge wallets or complete transactions. This distinction is crucial because distributing access to a platform with a billion users is a completely different concept than gaining a billion active cryptocurrency users.

Money and Walt: Two wallets with different positioning

Telegram's wallet ecosystem now distinguishes daily cryptocurrency transfers from broader trading and investment functions. "Money" is a native unmanaged wallet that focuses on digital assets related to Gram and Telegram. "Unmanaged" means that users control their own cryptocurrency rather than relying on a centralized provider to keep it on their behalf. According to official support documents, Walt, a service formerly known as Wallet, was officially renamed on September 28. The renaming occurred before, rather than simultaneously, the October 9 Money expansion.

Walt retains existing accounts, balances and deposit addresses without forced migration. Its services include managed cryptocurrency accounts, peer-to-peer trading, perpetual contracts, tokenized stocks, precious metals and revenue products, and provide a separate DeFi account. The platform said Walt supports more than 300 assets, while Money focuses more on Gram transfers and Telegram native purchases. Users who previously accessed Wallet through Telegram settings can still continue to use the renamed service through its Walt interface.

Description of what Gram holders can do and transfer costs

Money allows users to store and send GRAM (the native cryptocurrency of The Open Network) and purchase Telegram gifts and collectible user names. Walt said users can recharge Money directly from their Walt account with a few clicks, and the transfer is described as being completed instantly and with zero network fees. This zero-fee statement specifically covers the advertised funding connection channels between the two services. This should not be interpreted as ensuring that all external blockchain transfers, asset purchases, or third-party transactions are free. Walt may charge different fees for transactions, redemptions and other financial products.

Existing Walt users do not need to transfer their balances simply because the service is renamed. Transferring funds to Money is an independent decision involving different wallet arrangements. Self-hosting also brings responsibilities for users, including protecting account access and restoration mechanisms. Whether it is renaming or broader promotion, users are not required to respond to unsolicited wallet migration requests.

GRAM rose 8.7% but early price reports clashed

Crypto Times reported on October 10 that GRAM climbed about 8.7% during Friday's trading session, from intraday lows of nearly $1.35 to about $1.47 at 18:25 UTC on October 9. The token was reportedly briefly traded above $1.50. Other market reports pointed out that during promotional trading periods, GRAMs hit as high as about $1.56. However, Argentine media iProUP reported that prices fell by more than 6% after the announcement about Gram Wallet and Walt. The article was published on September 29, ten days before the latest expansion, when the price reference was about $2.14. These data cannot be regarded as competing measures of the same October 9 event. Early price citations also did not fully match CoinGecko's historical RAM data, limiting the reliability of direct comparisons. CoinGecko's Oct. 11 inspection showed that the Grain was trading at about $1.44, lower than some prices reported during Friday's rally.

Therefore, the available evidence supports a temporary increase in the Grain price around the broad wallet announcement, but it cannot be established that the promotion alone caused price fluctuations or generated sustained benefits.

Durov's commitment and remaining uncertainty

今年 7 月，Telegram 创始人 Pavel Durov 承诺推出一款原生的非托管 Gram 钱包，旨在为该 messaging 平台的庞大用户群提供即时、零费用的加密货币交易体验。随着 Durov 概述该计划，其雄心在于让用户无需下载专业钱包软件即可实现自我托管。10 月的扩展使这一愿景更接近更广泛的分布，同时也澄清了早期的不确定性：Money 和 Walt 设计为共存，而非简单地相互取代。

目前仍未解决的关键问题包括：激活钱包的数量、交易量、地理可用性范围，以及用户在日常购买中使用 Gram 的程度。这些指标将决定 Telegram 的钱包扩展是否成为推动 GRAM 需求的有效动力，还是主要作为其加密货币基础设施的分发里程碑。