Telegram adds 700,000 crypto wallets in 48 hours, Durov says

More than 700,000 cryptocurrency wallets were created across Telegram within a 48-hour window following new ecosystem deployments, according to metrics disclosed by Telegram founder and chief executive Pavel Durov on his official channel. The rapid influx highlights expanding retail adoption of digital assets embedded directly into messaging environments.

The surge follows recent feature rollouts that allow users to activate self-custodial and custodial wallet interfaces natively within Telegram chats without downloading separate standalone software or manually configuring seed phrases. Built on The Open Network blockchain, the wallet software allows users to send tokens, pay for mini-app digital goods, and trade Telegram-based collectibles directly through chat threads.

Onchain analysts noted that the creation figures reflect newly generated keypairs and registered wallet addresses, rather than active funded balances carrying transaction histories. According to blockchain explorer data from the Gram ecosystem, a significant portion of newly registered wallets originate from automated mini-app onboarding sequences, where interactive gaming and social applications prompt users to create an address before participating in promotional activities or earning platform rewards.

The rapid wallet expansion comes amid ongoing technical and platform adjustments between Telegram and major mobile app store gatekeepers. Telegram has worked to maintain native crypto functionality while ensuring compliance with in-app purchasing and digital goods policies mandated by Apple and Google. As Cointelegraph reported, app store approvals have allowed Telegram to continue rolling out peer-to-peer crypto tools and Gram token features across international jurisdictions without facing removal from global application marketplaces.

Telegram's digital asset strategy centers on converting its massive audience of more than 950 million global active users into Web3 participants through frictionless, web-like interfaces. Rather than requiring users to install browser extensions or transfer tokens across external bridges, Telegram Mini Apps run as lightweight web applications directly inside conversations, using TON smart contracts to handle backend transactions.

The platform's native wallet infrastructure has also been designed to support emerging micropayment economies for content creators. Channel owners and group administrators can receive subscription payments, tip rewards, and advertising revenue shares settled on TON. By offering low-cost transaction fees and near-instant confirmations, the network aims to capture high-frequency social transactions that are cost-prohibitive on congested base-layer blockchains like Ethereum. In addition, the integration of Tether's USDT stablecoin natively on TON has transformed Telegram into an active cross-border payments channel for users in emerging markets with volatile local currencies, according to updates published on the official TON blog.

Developer monetization has evolved rapidly alongside wallet creation numbers. Game studios and software teams building Mini Apps can monetize directly via Telegram Stars, an in-app virtual currency that developers can convert into TON or use to purchase Telegram advertising credits. This closed-loop economic mechanism incentivizes teams to drive user onboarding while keeping promotional spend within the Telegram platform ecosystem.

Despite the rapid user onboarding, the ecosystem faces substantial infrastructure and regulatory hurdles. The sudden spike in wallet generation has periodically strained TON validator nodes and RPC providers during viral mini-app reward claim events, prompting core developers to introduce performance optimizations and parallelized transaction handling across sharded validator clusters. Network developers have conducted multi-stage stress tests to ensure that peak transaction throughput can handle hundreds of thousands of simultaneous smart contract interactions without causing chain halts or transaction dropouts.

International regulatory scrutiny also remains a focal point for Telegram's leadership. European regulators and international law enforcement agencies have intensified oversight of end-to-end encrypted messaging services and integrated financial tools, demanding stricter compliance with customer identification rules and anti-illicit-finance standards. In public messages on his official channel, Durov has emphasized that Telegram is committed to modernizing compliance and cooperating with legitimate legal inquiries while maintaining user privacy and decentralization principles.

The rapid milestone demonstrates that embedded social applications remain one of the most effective funnels for bringing non-technical consumers into the digital asset space. As core wallet integrations mature from speculative gaming rewards into functional commerce and global remittances, Telegram's model is being watched closely by competing social platforms exploring sovereign digital payments.