Durov said Gram wallet was ready-next...

Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced that Gram Wallet is now ready

Telegram founder Pavel Durov said that Gram Wallet is ready, which means that the company's latest cryptocurrency project has entered the initial phased launch stage from the previously promised summer release. This distinction is crucial. Durov said on August 31 that Gram Wallet has been opened to "specific user groups" and will gradually expand its use in the next few weeks. He did not claim that every Telegram user already owned the wallet, nor did he provide specific data on how many people had activated or recharged the wallet. This makes the current actual progress far short of the number corresponding to Telegram's potential distribution scale. Durov claims that Telegram has more than a billion users, but the availability of wallets among this user group and actual usage are two different things.

What is the Gram Wallet in Telegram?

Durov described Gram Wallet as Telegram's native unmanaged cryptocurrency wallet. He said in July that Telegram was preparing what he called "the largest unmanaged cryptocurrency wallet promotion in human history" and planned to introduce native Gram Wallet to every Telegram app. Unmanaged is the key point in this description. Durov does not portray Gram Wallet as a traditional account where users 'cryptocurrency is held on a centralized platform, but instead repeatedly emphasizes its self-custodial positioning. In his August update, he said the wallet was ready and saw the work as part of Telegram's effort to simplify the unmanaged wallet experience. This is exactly the product concept Telegram is currently testing with its first users: embedding self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets into apps that users already use, rather than requiring users to start with standalone professional wallets.

What can Telegram users do with Gram Wallet?

The most explicit function of Gram Wallet that Durov publicly mentioned is cryptocurrency trading. When he announced the planned launch in July, he said Telegram's more than one billion users would be able to implement "instant zero-fee cryptocurrency transactions." This is Durov's description of the product, and does not mean that all transaction types involving Gram Wallet will always be free. He has not yet provided detailed fee standards, transaction details or a complete list of supported wallet features. Therefore, a safer understanding is that users within the current promotion scope can access Telegram's native unmanaged Gram Wallet, while Durov promotes the finished product around instant, zero-fee cryptocurrency transactions. Users who have not seen Gram Wallet should not view the August 31 announcement as a signal that there is a problem with their Telegram account. Durov made it clear that it will initially be open to specific user groups and will gradually expand its scope. He has not disclosed the specific size of the first batch of users.

Is Gram Wallet open to every Telegram user?

According to Durov's latest statement, it is not yet fully open. The July announcement described the ultimate goal in broader terms, saying the wallet would cover every Telegram app and mentioned more than a billion potential users. The launch announcement on August 31 described the current status more specifically: the wallet is only open to specific user groups, and Durov said it will gradually expand the scope of promotion in the next few weeks. These statements should not be interpreted to mean that more than a billion users already own active Gram Wallet. Telegram's user base establishes potential distribution channels, but does not say how many wallets have been activated, how many wallets contain cryptocurrency, or how many users are conducting transactions. Durov has not released these adoption data.

Why did Durov mention Gram Wallet smart contracts?

Durov also revealed a technical detail during the promotion. He said verifiers have approved smart contracts that support Gram Wallet, which means future wallet upgrades will not require what he calls a "painful migration." The significance of this statement lies more in Telegram's expectations for the future development of the wallet than in the new user-facing features. According to Durov, the approved structure allows future upgrades without requiring users to make complex migrations every time after a wallet change. Of course, this is Durov's description of the technical design. He did not release a complete technical specification in his announcement.

Promotion has been launched, but adoption data has not yet been released

The August announcement answered one question surrounding Gram Wallet: Durov said the project was beyond the planned release stage and was now available to some users. But it has not yet answered the more important adoption question. Durov does not disclose the number of active Gram Wallet users, the number of charged wallets, transaction volume or the proportion of Telegram users who currently have access to the wallet. The key point for the current promotion is simple: According to Durov, Gram Wallet is online but is still in the process of phased distribution. For Telegram users, this means that the story of a billion users remains at the level of potential scale rather than actual measurable adoption. The next meaningful update will be to demonstrate that usage has significantly exceeded the specific user group Durov referred to on August 31.